Modelling analysis for design of microshutters with new electrode configuration

Ke, Ming; Kutyrev, A.; Kotecki, Carl A.; Kim, Kyowon; Greenhouse, Matthew A.; Chang, Meng-Ping; Fettig, Rainer K.; Brekosky, Regis P.; Hu, Yongjie

doi:10.1016/j.sna.2022.113661

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…Together these improvements permit purely electrostatic actuation, greatly decreases the time to open/close or address selected shutters from several seconds to a fraction of a second. 8,9 These devices do not require cryogenic compatibility, as they are intended for use in ultraviolet, visible and near IR applications, alleviating the need to account for thermal extremes in the fabrication process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An enhanced contrast evaluation testbed for next-generation microshutter arrays

Mitchell,

McCandliss,

Pelton

et al. 2023

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII

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Next-Generation Microshutter Arrays (NGMSA) are customizable multi-aperture spectrograph slit masks manufactured by Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC) that have an advanced pure electrical actuation and latching mode, which is considerably more robust than the scanning magnetic actuation and electric latching method used by the first generation MSA devices on JWST 's NIRSpec. These first generation devices were found to have an average open-to-closed contrast ratio of ∼ 66,000 at visible and near-infrared wavelengths (Kutyrev et al. 2008). 1 NGMSA have been baselined in the multi-object UV spectroscopic designs for Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) and other Explorer missions. Consequently, the near-UV contrast of these devices as a function of input focal ratio is of great interest. Here we present an update to the contrast evaluation apparatus first reported in Carter et al. ( 2021), 2 but with an improved doublet projection and imaging optical train. Overall spherical aberration is considerably reduced, and the analysis of a prototype flight array yields significantly higher contrast than found in that initial work; emphasizing the need for high quality projection and imaging optics for precise contrast measurements. There is a clear monotonically increasing relationship between contrast and f/#. At ratios slower than f/15 we find single slit contrast ratios in excess of 100,000 using Hg emission line source at 1849 and 2537 Å and with a narrowband filtered continuum D 2 lamp at 3004 Å. The contrast using a 2214 Å filter with the D 2 lamp was somewhat lower (> 60,000), but may have contributions from chromatic aberration in the quartz optics and out-of-band leakage in the interference filters. Requirements for enabling the measurement of NGMSA contrast in the vacuum ultraviolet below ∼ 1800 Å are addressed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An enhanced contrast evaluation testbed for next-generation microshutter arrays

Mitchell,

McCandliss,

Pelton

et al. 2023

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII

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Technological developments of NexGen Micro-Shutter Array (NGMSA) for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) flagship mission

Kim,

Chang,

Kutyrev

et al. 2024

Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation VI

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We present the most up to date advancements in production, design, and performance of the NexGen Micro-Shutter Array (NGMSA) for Multi-object Spectroscopy (MOS), intended for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Flagship. A microshutter array functions as a programmable slit mask, to generate slits corresponding to sparsely distributed sources in the field of view of a telescope. In contrast to the magnetic/electrostatic microshutter arrays used in the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the NGMSA is fully operated by electrostatics, simplifying overall system. Our small pilot array proved its capability from the FORTIS sounding rocket mission in 2019. As we are switching to a larger HWO flight size array process, we are encountering multiple processing related issues. Also, there has been individual shutter level issue that impairs operation and performance. We will discuss those problems and strategies to overcome the challenges to achieve an on/off contrast of >1e5 with near 100% shutter operability.

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Modelling analysis for design of microshutters with new electrode configuration

Cited by 2 publications

References 8 publications

An enhanced contrast evaluation testbed for next-generation microshutter arrays

An enhanced contrast evaluation testbed for next-generation microshutter arrays

Technological developments of NexGen Micro-Shutter Array (NGMSA) for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) flagship mission

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