Primary adaptive mirrors for ELTs: a report on preliminary studies

At the moment the best bet to obtain an extremely high actuator density for extremely large pupils seems to be that of extending the current adaptive secondary mirror technology to segmented “adaptive primaries”. The main components of a segment of an adaptive primary mirror are being studied in order to determine all the parameters able to statically keep the mechanical response within the optical specifications and to dynamically provide the stiffness and damping features needed by the adaptive optics control system. Both static and dynamical requirements depend critically on actuator geometry and structure, mirror shape and thickness, and implementation of the control system. The mechanical response has been numerically evaluated in terms of deformation under gravity, mirror influence functions and actuator layout, including their interface to the shell