SLMS(trademark) Athermal Technology for High Quality Wavefront Control of HEL Tactical Airborne and Relay Mirror Beam Control Applications (Postprint)

Abstract

The operational environment for tactical airborne mission is typically on the order of -20 degrees C. Relay mirror systems typically must operate at colder temperatures, on the order of -50 degrees C. The desirable attributes for the mirrors and beam directors for systems operating under these conditions are high quality wavefront control. Wavefront control can be improved through the use of very low absorption coatings which minimize thermal distortion, by using mirrors that do not print-through their lightweighting structures at cryogenic temperatures, by improving the surface figure, surface finish and surface quality of the mirror, by using mirrors with high structural efficiency and excellent damping performance, and by using mirrors that have very high first fundamental frequencies of vibration which will not resonate in response to system disturbances. Since payload weight is an important system driver, lightweighting is also important for the mirrors. In Phase 1, Schafer demonstrated a 5-inch dual-band mirror and in Phase II we are demonstrating a 21-inch dual band mirror.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 15, 2005
Accession Number
ADA458387

Entities

People

  • Bill Goodman
  • Ryan Conk

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Airborne
  • Diffraction
  • Distortion
  • Doppler Effect
  • Efficiency
  • Environment
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Shift
  • Trademarks
  • Vibration
  • Wavefronts

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Robotics and Automation.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.