June 9, 2011 – Marketwire — Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC), which makes MEMS-based deformable mirror (DM) products for adaptive optics systems, won $1.2M in NASA contracts through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). The Phase II contracts will expand on Phase 1, development of a reliable, fault-tolerant microelectromechanical deformable mirror (MEMS-DM) technology.
BMC won the Phase II contract based on technical merit and innovation, Phase I results, value to NASA, commercial potential and company capabilities, the company said in a statement.
BMC will design and fabricate a MEMS micromirror array of 1021 ultra-flat, close-packed hexagonal mirrors that can tip, tilt, and piston (TTP) with sub-nanometer precision. MEMS-DMs designs were successfully demonstrated in prior NASA work. The array, with 3 degrees of freedom and lambda/100 optical quality, will enable high-contrast visible nulling coronagraph instruments for exoplanet imaging.
BMC will also develop compact, ultra-low-power, high-voltage multiplexed drive electronics to support its MEMS-DMs in space-based wavefront control applications. In its Phase I award, BMC demonstrated a drive electronics approach that inherently limits actuator electrical current density generated to prevent permanent failure when a short time frame single fault failure occurs. This project will scale up BMC’s DM driver circuit developed for NASA on another project (Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission). NASA and BMC expect tenfold size and power reductions and decreased interconnection complexity.
NASA’s extra-solar planetary search will rely on high-resolution wavefront correction with deformable mirrors in telescopes, said Paul Bierden, president and co-founder of Boston Micromachines. Space-based telescopes have become indispensible in advancing the frontiers of astrophysics.
The awards were part of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research programs.
Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC) makes advanced microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based mirror products for use in commercial adaptive optics systems. By applying wavefront correction to produce high resolution images, BMC devices can be used for imaging biological tissue and the human retina and to enhance images blurred by the earth’s atmosphere. The company’s suite of compact deformable mirror (DM) products is cost effective and high performance. For more information on BMC, please visit www.bostonmicromachines.com.