Adjustable X-ray mirror facets have been identified as a technology that could enable >2m2 effective area X-ray optics with sub-arcsecond angular resolution. Electroactive polymers can produce high strains at low voltages, being able to correct the deformations that submillimeter-thick mirror shells experience during mounting and assembly of the optical system. In this paper, we describe the fabrication of μm-scale poly-vinylidene fluoride- co-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) electroactive polymer films on at Si substrates with individually-addressable electrodes. The fabrication protocol is low-cost, scalable, and can easily be translated to production by industrial partners. With fabrication temperatures below 150° C, PVDF-TrFE actuator arrays can be deposited on mirror substrates inducing minimal thermal and coating stress.
The development of thin, segmented, grazing-incidence X-ray optics is the basis of future large-area X-ray missions such as Lynx. Adjustable mirror segments have been proposed to achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolution for mm-thickness segments that will deform during mounting and assembly of the optical system. In this paper, we present the development of a novel class of low-voltage thin-film actuators based on electroactive poly-vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) polymer. Fabrication of PVDF-TrFE thin films is a low-cost, scalable technology that can be easily be translated to production by industrial partners. With processing temperatures below 140 C, electroactive polymer films can be deposited on mirror substrates inducing minimal thermal and coating stress. A full characterization of electrical properties, fabrication yields, and influence functions of PVDF-TrFE actuator arrays deployed on flat Si substrates will be presented.
The Lynx next-generation soft X-ray telescope is being proposed to significantly increase the effective area of Chandra while keeping sub-arcsecond imaging resolution. To produce the necessary optics, we propose to build and test a novel class of low-voltage thin-film actuators based on electroactive polymers to address the need for adjustable mirror control in future high-resolution X-ray missions such as Lynx. Electroactive polymers can produce high strains at low voltages, being able to correct the deformations that submillimeter-thick mirror shells will experience in future X-ray missions. Fabrication of polymer-based thin films is a low-cost, scalable technology that can be easily translated to production by industrial partners. With processing temperatures below 140°C, electroactive polymer films can be deposited on glass mirror substrates without risk of introducing additional slumping errors. With the high imaging resolution enabled by our proposed mirror correction technology, Lynx will be capable of detecting the first accreting black holes, study the evolution of galaxies and growth of cosmic structure, and verify the existence of a Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) that could account for the large fraction of missing baryonic matter in the Universe.
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