IntroductionDigital Holography (DH) in the Long-Wave InfraRed (LWIR) range shows an increased interest since its first demonstration in 2003 [1]. In particular it allows observing large objects due to the fact that at such wavelengths the ratio between the wavelength and the pixel size allows reconstructing objects 5 to 10 times larger than with DH in visible light [2,3]. We already presented various configurations of LWIR DH interferometry and electronic speckle pattern interferometry for deformation metrology and non destructive testing [3,4]. In this paper we present the application of LWIR DH in interferometric testing of large deformation of large aspheric mirrors in the frame of a European Space Agency project. Here the study focuses on the case of parabolas and ellipses which are usually tested through interferometric wavefront error measurements which require expensive null-lenses matching each of the reflectors considered. In the case of monitoring deformation a holographic technique can be considered where the wavefront is compared with itself at different instants. Therefore the optical set-up can be quite simple and easily reconfigurable from one reflector to another. The advantage of using long wavelength is that large deformations can be measured at once, in addition to being more immune against environmental perturbations. In this paper we review different optical configurations of DH interferometer that led to test a parabolic mirror under thermal-vacuum test [5], as well as an off-axis ellipse tested in laboratory conditions, which is a new result.
LWIR Digital Holographic Interferometer for Parabola TestingThere are basically two schemes for dealing with specular reflectors and that were discussed in [5], but only one was implemented then. Without loss of generally we