Unimorph deformable mirror with an integrated strain feedback layer

The correction accuracy of a pint-sized unimorph deformable mirror (DM) is significantly influenced by the nonlinear hysteresis error of piezoelectric ceramics, especially in an open-loop state. Moreover, the control bandwidth is also reduced by the nonlinearity. In this paper, we fabricated a three-unit pint-sized unimorph DM with strain gauges integrated on the actuators as a feedback layer for the first time. An experimental platform was built and utilized to test each electrode’s strain signal. Testing results show that, under quasi-static condition, the hysteresis curve of the mirror’s central displacement is corrected and the hysteresis rate could be reduced from 11% to less than 2% by adopting the strain feedback signal. More specifically, the DM’s initial surface, Zernike defocus, together with spherical aberration can also be corrected by this method, and the correction accuracy is improved more than 20% compared to the open-loop state. By introducing a closed-loop control the gaps of the DMs under open loop are supplied. This demonstrates that adding a strain feedback layer is promising to enhance the performance of a unimorph DM.