This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 7424, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and the Conference Committee listing.

The College of Optical Sciences at University of Arizona has established excellent programs for training BS, MS, and Ph.D. students in optical sciences and engineering. Research activities at the University of Arizona have also been closely coupled to developments in the field of optomechanical engineering. In response to request from the optics industry, we have recently expanded the educational opportunities for BS and MS students to follow engineering curricula that provide the right mix of optics and mechanical engineering.

The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) in Flagstaff, Arizona, makes use of separate smaller telescopes spaced along a Y-array and used simultaneously to simulate an equivalent single large telescope. The performance of the NPOI can be improved by increasing the steering response of the 8-in. diameter Narrow Angle Tracker (NAT). The mirrors of the NAT correct the image position for atmospherically induced motion. The current tracker has a slow response due to the low fundamental frequency of the mount and limits the quality of the data. A higher frequency will allow a faster servo feedback to the steering mirror, which will enhance the tracking performance on stellar objects resulting in final fringe data of higher quality. Also, additional and fainter objects could be observed with a faster response system, and the interferometer as a whole would be less sensitive to fluctuations in atmospheric quality. Improvements in the NAT performance over the current cast aluminum frame and glass mirror were achieved by the use of advanced composite materials in the design of the frame and mirror. Various design possibilities were evaluated using finite element analysis. It was found that the natural frequency of the NAT can be increased from 68 to 217 Hz, and the corresponding weight decreased by a factor of 5.6, by using a composite mount with a composite mirror.

As a result of the relatively large coefficient of thermal expansion, cast borosilicate glass mirrors require extensive thermal control. Historically, this thermal control was accomplished by injecting high velocity ambient temperature air into each honeycomb cell through holes in the mirror's bottom plate at a constant velocity of approximately 8 liters per second. Although this approach was adequate for previous projects that utilize these mirrors, it cannot meet both the mirror seeing requirements and the thermal distortion requirements of the LSST mirror simultaneously. At the beginning of the observing night, when the ambient air temperature is changing rapidly, providing an air cooling rate adequate enough to control mirror seeing would produce excessive thermal distortion of the mirror. This thermal distortion is the result of uneven cooling between the face plate and back plate. The face plate's top surface is cooled by ambient air while its bottom surface and both surfaces of the back plate are cooled by the cooling air flow. By precooling the mirror (~1 °C) below the expected initial exterior ambient temperature, and reducing the cooling air flow rate (2-3 L/s) both the mirror seeing and distortion requirements can be met.

In high precision radial velocity (RV) measurements for extrasolar planets searching and studies, a stable wide field Michelson interferometer is very critical in Exoplanet Tracker (ET) instruments. Adopting a new design, monolithic interferometers are homogenous and continuous in thermal expansion, and field compensation and thermal compensation are both satisfied. Interferometer design and fabrication are decrypted in details. In performance evaluations, field angle is typically 22° and thermal sensitivity is typically -1.7 x 10^-6/°C, which corresponds to ~500 m/s /°C in RV scale. In interferometer stability monitoring using a wavelength stabilized laser source, phase shift data was continuously recorded for nearly seven days. Appling a frequent calibration every 30 minutes as in typical star observations, the interferometer instability contributes less than 1.4 m/s in RV error, in a conservative estimation.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an 8.4 meter telescope with a field of view of 10 square degrees. This telescope will be capable of mapping the entire visible sky every few nights via sequential 15-second exposures, opening new windows on the universe from dark energy to time variable objects. The LSST optics calls for an annular 3.5 m diameter Secondary Mirror (M2), which is a large meniscus convex asphere (ellipse). The M2 converts the beam reflected from the f/1.2 primary mirror into a beam for the f/0.83 Tertiary Mirror (M3). The M2 has a mass of approximately 1.5 metric tons and the mirror support system will need to maintain the mirror figure at different gravity orientations. The optical performance evaluations were made based on the optimized support systems consisting of 72 axial supports, mounted at the mirror back surface, and 6 tangent link lateral supports mounted around the outer edge. The predicted print-though errors of the M2 supports are 8nm RMS surface for axial gravity and 10nm RMS surface for lateral gravity. The natural frequencies were calculated for the M2 dynamic performance. In addition, thermo-elastic analyses of M2 for thermal gradient cases were conducted. The LSST M2 support system has an active optics capability to maintain optical figure and its performance to correct low-order aberrations has been demonstrated. The optical image qualities and structure functions for the axial and lateral gravity print-through cases, and thermal gradient effects were calculated.

Northrop Grumman has been a leader in the space industry for over 50 years, and in fact was the first in the industry to produce a contractor-built spacecraft. Since the dawn of the Space Age and that Pioneer-1 spacecraft, every sub-system that makes up a spacecraft has grown in capability. One of the most visible changes to a spacecraft that enables these enhanced capabilities is the variety of appendages called deployable systems. These systems include solar arrays, antenna reflectors, telescopes and a current design for a tennis court sized sunshield. While the end product may look very different and perform different functions, all deployable systems share certain common attributes. Among these are: a latch mechanism for the deployable restraining it to the spacecraft for launch, an unlatching or release mechanism once orbit is achieved, an energy storage device or driving mechanism for deployment and a re-latching, or sometimes a repositioning device for orientation of the system during the mission. This paper describes these space-based systems and draws some comparisons with various natural analogs. While it may not be the case that the aerospace engineer is attempting to duplicate natural systems, it is almost certain that spacecraft deployable systems have been influenced by nature.

Knowledgeable design of lens mounts using metal rings requires the ability to accurately predict the state of stress created in the surface of the glass lenses. Only this ability permits the engineer to be sure to keep the surface tensile stresses under an acceptable level. A review of the literature of optomechanics and structural mechanics fails to disclose a consistent procedure for calculating the stresses in the surface of the glass. The most popular method (Delgado and Hallinan) is a hybrid technique (employing both cylinders and spheres) that the author finds predicts surface tensile stresses that are unrealistically high. The author has gone back to the elastic theory, derived the differential equations for the ring-mounted-lens geometry and integrated them to calculate the state of stress in the glass surface under the influence of compressive loading from metal retaining rings. The results are presented as closed-form equations for the state of stress over the entire surface of the lens. The implications for the design of retaining ring mountings are discussed.

Development and testing of a lightweight-kinematic optical mount with integrated passive vibration-and-shock mitigation technologies and simple / robust optical alignment functionality is presented. Traditionally, optical mounts are designed for use in laboratory environments where the thermal-mechanical environments are carefully controlled to preserve beam path conditions and background disturbances are minimized to facilitate precise optically based measurements. Today's weapon and surveillance systems, however, have optical sensor suites where static and dynamic alignment performance in the presence of harsh operating environments is required to nearly the same precision and where the system cannot afford the mass of laboratory-grade stabilized mounting systems. Jitter and alignment stability is particularly challenging for larger optics operating within moving vehicles and aircraft where high shock and significant temperature excursions occur. The design intent is to have the mount be suitable for integration into existing defense and security optical systems while also targeting new commercial and military components for improved structural dynamic and thermal distortion performance. A mount suitable for moderate-sized optics and an integrated disturbance-optical metrology system are described. The mount design has performance enhancements derived from the integration of proven aerospace mechanical vibration and shock mitigation technologies (i.e. multi-axis passive isolation and integral damping), precision alignment adjustment and lock-out functionality, high dimensional stability materials and design practices which provide benign optical surface figure errors under harsh thermal-mechanical loading. Optical jitter, alignment, and wave-front performance testing of an eight-inch-aperture optical mount based on this design approach are presented to validate predicted performance improvements over an existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) design.

Surface flatness of 6-inch diameter mirrors at the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer is specified to be within 32 nanometers over a 5.4-inch diameter circle centered on the mirror. The current mounting technique is to use three spring plungers applied to the back surface of the mirror, near the perimeter edge, thereby pressing the front surface against three small diameter Teflon® pads directly opposite the plungers. The pads have the effect of dissipating the deformation effects within the 5.4-inch diameter region. This paper describes the effects of varying the size of the pads, from a 7/32 inch diameter pad to a point-type contact such as a ball bearing. Experimental results using a phase shifting interferometer are presented, as well as finite element analysis results.

A 2-D linear flexure stage system is designed with high structure stiffness using the laminar over-constrained weak-link mechanism presented in this paper. This design is a new development in the application of redundantly constrained laminar structures as weak-link mechanisms. The novelty of this new mechanical design is its fishbone-shaped multiple-parallelogram structure, which performs the function of a high-stiffness, high-precision linear motion guider with subcentimeter travel range and sub-nanometer positioning resolution. Potential applications of this new stage system include advanced development of ultra-precision positioning stages for the scanning x-ray nanoprobes, long-range scanning atomic force microscopes, and equipment for nanotechnology and semiconductor industries.

The use of uncooled microbolometer detectors for space infrared (IR) imaging application requires high optical throughput, which leads to very fast optical design (~f/1). This directly translates into stringent requirements for components, assembly and alignment. The Institut National d'Optique (INO) in Quebec City, Canada, designed such a system for the NIRST IR Camera. The instrument is part of the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite, a cooperative mission conducted jointly by NASA and the Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) of Argentina. Due to the tight volume and mass allocation, the NIRST camera module is an all refractive design. Since the Camera is made of two lens barrels co-registered to cover the same ground area at different wavelength bands, it also adds coregistration alignment constraints. This paper presents the optomechanical solutions and alignment scheme that enabled the successful design and flight qualification. Trade-off study between thermally induced stress and structural stiffness of the lens RTV bond is discussed. Special attention is given to lens subcell alignment integrity under random vibration encountered during launch. Detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to check early design assumptions. Test results of the final vibration campaign are also presented.

To overcome the stroke limitation of single piezoelectric actuators walking drives are developed for long range travel application. This paper describes design concepts and products optimized for loads starting from 10N to 1kN and speed from 100μm/s to 20mm/s. Besides the micro stepping mode different driving concepts are presented to allow limited range high speed analogue motion with sub-nm resolution as well as ultra low constant velocity motion over the full range. The self locking design holds the mechanisms in position if not energized up to loads which exceed the max. driving force capability. Technology updates for ultrahigh vacuum, cryogenic, radiation or nonmagnetic environments will also be discussed.

A self-developed optical image derotator is applied for the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of rotating objects under operational conditions. This makes it possible to get a stationary image of the rotating object. Using the combination of image derotator and a high speed camera or a laser Doppler Vibrometer in-plane and out-of-plane vibration of rotating components with a rotational speed of up to n = 10.000 min^-1 can be measured. The main component of this derotator is a rotating Dove prism. The prism causes aberration and polarisation effects that affect the measurement quality. To improve the optical and mechanical characteristics of the derotator and to expand its application potential, IMR develops a new derotator generation which uses an arrangement of mirrors instead of the Dove prism. Thereby it is additionally possible to do thermo-graphical measurements of the rotating machinery components. It is also possible to examine the objects with rotational speeds up to n = 20.000 min^-1. In this paper the design and simulation of the optical module of the new derotator are introduced. Furthermore, the mechanical construction of the derotator will be explained.

This paper describes the opto-mechanical analyses performed, from concept through to detailed level, on a high stability multi-channel tracked vehicle mounted sight programme. Stability requirements necessary for successful performance of this system were demanding, and had to be achieved whilst in a vehicle environment of 'operate-on-the-move' variable random vibration, shock, and severe operating temperature extremes. The key to success lay in the comprehensive simulations and analyses employed in association with rapid data processing programs. Techniques used included finite element analysis, thermal network analysis, classical hand calculations and programming of parametric geometrical data in the computer aided design model. The techniques employed were integrated into the design process to achieve bidirectional flow of information between optical design, mechanical design, mechanical analysis departments and the customer.

The Space Dynamics Laboratory has combined internal funds with its background in space-rated mechanisms to develop a prototype low-cost large-angle 2-axis fine steering mirror (FSM). The FSM has a 75-mm clear aperture, 30-degree mechanical elevation angle, 120-degree mechanical azimuth angle, and a 70-Hertz small-amplitude bandwidth. Key components include a rotary voice coil, unique patent-pending feedback sensor, brushless DC motor and optical encoder. Average error is <1 arcsec and total mechanical mass is <1 kg. Additional accomplishments include a passive launch lock, launch vibration testing, portable demonstration electronics development, and thermal-vacuum testing to pressures down to 1e-7 torr and temperatures down to 164 K.

The National Ignition Facility and the Omega Laser Facility both have a need for measuring prompt gamma radiation as part of a nuclear diagnostic program. A new gamma-detection diagnostic using off-axis-parabolic mirrors has been built. Some new techniques were used in the design, construction, and tolerancing of this gamma ray diagnostic. Because of the wavelength requirement (250 to 700 nm), the optical element surface finishes were a key design consideration. The optical enclosure had to satisfy pressure safety concerns and shielding against electromagnetic interference induced by gammas and neutrons. Structural finite element analysis was needed to meet rigorous optical and safety requirements. The optomechanical design is presented. Alignment issues are also discussed.

Hexapod platforms have found use in high-end systems when precision positioning and multiple degrees of freedom are required. Hexapods make use of parallel kinematics to achieve these high levels of precision and accuracy and can often outperform traditional methods. Traditional methods generally involve serial kinematics in the form of stacked translation and rotation stages. They have the advantage of being conceptually simple and straightforward to implement, but often suffer from decreased stability. Despite the advantages of stability and the freedom of motion hexapods offer, hexapods are often avoided because of their non-intuitive nature. Inverse kinematics can be used to determine the interaction between the motions of the individual linear actuators and the motion of the mobile platform of a hexapod. We endeavor to present a straightforward approach to understanding hexapod movements and provide insight into the advantages and limitations of hexapod platforms. This paper presents concepts that can be utilized by the designer or user to determine fundamentals such as resolution, motion limits, actuator loading, and stiffness of a given hexapod design.

A digital seismic measuring chain is an electromechanical system able to record the lowest natural ground motions observable on Earth but also to measure signals from largest earthquakes. Its cornerstones are an inertial seismometer and a digitizer. As equipments available on the market don't answer to all seismological applications CEA/DAM/DIF (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique/Direction des Applications Militaires/ Ile De France) is interested in, it has developed the adequate digital seismic measuring chains. Today, the technologies used have reached their maturity. New sensing techniques need to be developed. Optical sensors are now widely used in vibrometry and motion measurements. Such devices generally use interferometry and frange interpolation to achieve high resolution with a large dynamic range. We have developed macroscopic prototype digital motion transducer from a Michelson interferometer in order to evaluate the potential of this technology for seismological applications. First, tests were carried out to validate the operation of these transducers and to estimate their main characteristics for seismological applications. We focused on transducer motion range, intrinsic noise and temperature sensitivity. We have evaluated and compared performances of such interferometers in visible (632 nm) and in infrared (1550 nm) range. Then, we have experimentally evaluated noise sources in displacement measurement. Last, we designed Michelson interferometer with integrated optics component with a company which is specialized in integrated optics. Expected results are presented in this document.

Precision diamond-turned or molded polymer optics are utilized in a wide range of commercial markets and applications including; medical disposables, bar code scan/recognition, security and fingerprint scanners, motion and presence sensors, CCD cameras, laser collimation and others.. The use of polymer optics was previously relegated to less technically challenging applications. Current advancements in polymer technology and injection molding capabilities have increased the manufacturability and precision of polymer optics. Polymer materials with optical properties are being thrust to the design forefront for new, sophisticated electro-optical applications. Designing and manufacturing optics and optical systems using polymers alone or hybrid polymer/glass applications provides complete custom capability and offers new optical and opto-mechanical solutions for a variety of optical and opto-mechanical modules, assemblies and components. Integrated mounting offers configuration flexibility, considerable design freedom, simplified optical alignment, mechanical design, assembly and packaging. The system is assembled, aligned, optically spaced, and sealed in a single manufacturing step.

The laser tracking measurement for space moving targets is the research hotspot in the precision measurement field, which has attracted many researchers' interests for many years. The tracking mechanism characterized with the performance of high accuracy and rapid response is the key to solving the dynamic measurement problem. In the paper, a project with one prism rotating around the rotating axis to attain the linear tracking is proposed, which can not only meet the requirements of the large range, rapid response and dynamic tracking, but also achieve the high accuracy of submicroradian magnitude due to the particular opto-mechanical design. Steering the tracking mechanism can well track the linear motion of space dynamic or static target. In order to study the above system, the technical parameters of the mechanism are firstly designed, and then the model analysis and simulation calculation is respectively carried out. Therefore, a new measurement is finally brought about, which points outs a solution for the measurement of space moving target with large range and high accuracy. The design results show the tracking accuracy is better than 0.5 μrad within the tracking angle range.

A high-precision, low-cost tool for optimal alignment of a compensator group in anamorphic objectives is presented. The system provides highly accurate information by analyzing the axis and field PSFs in the focal plane of the optical system under test. The PSFs are provided by a bundle of 9 different pigtailed laser diodes placed in the object field, and they are recorded by a lensless 2/3" CCD camera. The comparison of the simulated and obtained PSFs allows determining the optical element introducing the differences so action may be taken precisely on that element. The system is especially useful in non-rotationally symmetrical systems, where errors in axis position result into asymmetries of the PSF images. The tool is used for precise alignment of the cylindrical lenses in the compensator group of an anamorphic objective prior to sealing. Results show the system is able to detect misalignments of 100μm and axis positioning errors of just 30arcsec using off-the-shelf components without the need of high-precision positioning equipment.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is used to create an active flip in/out Rapid Prototype (RP) lens mount for a very specific and limited application. Design and material considerations are reviewed, design and construction challenges highlighted, and both CAD and photographic images of the finished mount are shown. These are the author's anecdotal experiences with one type of RP, and should not be considered representative of industry or even manufacturer's capabilities.