Next-Generation Microshutter Array Technology
NASA technologists have hurdled a number of significant challenges in their
quest to improve a revolutionary observing technology originally created for the
James Webb Space Telescope. This image shows a close-up view of the
next-generation microshutter arrays -- designed to accommodate the needs of
future observatories -- during the fabrication process.
Determined to make the Webb telescope's microshutter technology more broadly
available, a team of technologists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center spent
the past four years experimenting with techniques to advance this capability.
One of the first things the team did was eliminate the magnet that sweeps over
the shutter arrays to activate them, replacing it with electrostatic actuation.
Just as significant is the voltage needed to actuate the arrays. By last year,
the team had achieved a major milestone by activating the shutters with just 30
volts. The team used atomic layer deposition, a state-of-the-art fabrication
technology, to fully insulate the tiny space between the electrodes to eliminate
potential electrical crosstalk that could interfere with the arrays’ operation.
They also applied a very thin anti-stiction coating to prevent the shutters from
sticking when opened.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill
Hrybyk
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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