Process of reliability and repeatability testing and characterization of a MEMS mirror array

As part of the PANOPTES (Processing Arrays of Nyquist Limited Observations to Produce a Thin Electro-optic Sensor) research effort, arrays of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) mirrors from Sandia National Laboratories are used to steer the field of view of an imaging system. This movement, along with many looks at the target, provides for super resolution enhancement of the imagery. Precise control of the mirror array is required to produce images useful in reconstruction. This thesis began as an attempt to characterize the movement of those mirrors in order to accurately steer the field of view. The first step in the characterization process was to design and implement testing algorithms and apparatus to verify that the mirrors could be turned reliably at angles small enough to be useful in PANOPTES.;Researchers at Sandia laboratories initially reported on the structure of the mirrors and also proved the capabilities of the mirrors. However, their tests were conducted with relatively low sample spacing. In order to confirm these initial tests and also to collect data with much smaller sample spacing for our own analysis, two different testing methods were developed.;The first technique measures the reflection of a helium neon laser off of a single mirror in the array by relating the movement of the reflected beam to the movement of the mirror. The second technique uses a white light interferometer to measure the deflection of all the mirrors in the array at one time. This marks the first time all the mirrors in this array were inspected with a single measurement. Due to the sheer quantity of samples and also for expediency of the measurement process, both of these testing methods were automated.;Because of our ability to take large amounts of data quickly, the mirror arrays were tested over a larger range and with more precision than was previously possible. This additional testing capability led to the discovery of a peculiarity in the mirror operation. The existence of which was proved through several tests designed to eliminate possible causes of the error. The magnitude of the peculiarity was large enough to preclude the use of the mirror array in the PANOPTES system.;Although full characterization was not obtained, testing methods were developed and implemented to quickly evaluate the performance of a mirror array. This is invaluable for validating any mirror array because it makes the task of finding and calculating error simple.