title: Stability of electrostatic actuated membrane mirror devices.
abstract: Membrane mirrors with transparent electrodes were fabricated for adaptive optics. These devices are capable of generating large, low-spatial-order deformations but exhibit instability for high-order deformations. A variational calculation of the electrostatic and mechanical energy of such membrane devices leads to criteria for stable operation. Simulations based upon this calculation are able to reproduce the observed behavior of fabricated devices and suggest suitable device parameters for improved performance with high-order deformations.
authors.affiliation: University of California at Berkeley 94720, USA. pkurczynski@mac.com
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kurczynski
authors.forename: Harold M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Dyson
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sadoulet
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D007909:Lenses; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial