MEMS Tip/Tilt & Piston mirror arrays as diffractive optical elements
01 January 2005
We present an analytic optical performance evaluation of tip/tilt and piston Spatial Light Modulator, for adaptive optic and beam steering applications. Analytic solutions for the spatial dynamics are derived, and the impact of the fill factor, pixel curvature, position accuracy, tilt accuracy, and pixel yield are discussed in detail. Two arrangements for beam steering are presented and analyzed, in the first the SLM is used as a programmable higher order diffraction grating, and in the second the SLM acts as a programmable Fresnel lens inside a telescope.
