Membrane photon sieve telescope

Geoff Andersen; Michael E. Dearborn; Matthew G. McHarg; Jeff Harvey

doi:10.1117/12.918613

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24 May 2012 Membrane photon sieve telescope

Geoff Andersen, Michael E. Dearborn, Matthew G. McHarg, Jeff Harvey

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Proceedings Volume 8385, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications V; 83850B (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918613
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

We are currently constructing FalconSAT-7 for launch in late 2013. The low-Earth, 3U CubeSat solar telescope incorporates a 0.2m deployable membrane photon sieve with over 2.5 billion holes. The aim of the experiment is to demonstrate diffraction limited imaging of a collapsible, diffractive primary over a narrow bandwidth. As well as being simpler to manufacture and deploy than curved, polished surfaces, the sheets do not have to be optically flat, greatly reducing many engineering issues. As such, the technology is particularly promising as a means to achieve extremely large optical primaries from compact, lightweight packages.

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Geoff Andersen, Michael E. Dearborn, Matthew G. McHarg, and Jeff Harvey "Membrane photon sieve telescope", Proc. SPIE 8385, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications V, 83850B (24 May 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918613

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