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24 October 2014 Flux-pinning mechanisms for improving cryogenic segmented mirror performance
Jessica Gersh-Range, William R. Arnold, David L. Lehner, H. Philip Stahl
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Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 014001 (October 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.1.1.014001
Abstract
Although large cryogenic space telescopes may provide a means of answering compelling astrophysics questions, the required increase in the primary mirror diameter presents technical challenges. Larger primaries are more flexible, and cryogenic mirrors are typically very lightly damped—the material damping is negligible, and common damping methods break down. To address these challenges, we propose placing flux-pinning mechanisms along the edges of adjacent mirror segments. These mechanisms consist of a collection of magnets and superconductors, and like flexures, they preferentially allow motion in specific degrees of freedom. Motion in nonpreferred degrees of freedom is resisted by a force analogous to a damped spring force, and the stiffness and damping can be adjusted independently. As an example, we consider simple mechanisms consisting of an inexpensive magnet and a single superconductor. These mechanisms provide increasing resistance as the magnet and superconductor—or mirror segments attached to each—come closer to colliding. These mechanisms, with typical stiffness and damping values on the order of 5000  N/m and 5  kg/s, respectively, also provide modest improvements to the mirror performance. Greater gains can be achieved by using stronger magnets or smaller separations, or by placing nonmagnetic conductive materials near the mechanism.
CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
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Jessica Gersh-Range, William R. Arnold, David L. Lehner, and H. Philip Stahl "Flux-pinning mechanisms for improving cryogenic segmented mirror performance," Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 1(1), 014001 (24 October 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.1.1.014001
Published: 24 October 2014
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Cited by 7 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Mirrors
Superconductors
Cryogenics
Segmented mirrors
Magnetism
Space telescopes
Resistance
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