Modal dynamics of magnetic-liquid deformable mirrors.

Magnetic-liquid deformable mirrors (MLDMs) were introduced by our group in 2004 and numerous developments have been made since then. The usefulness of this type of mirror in various applications has already been shown, but experimental data on their dynamics are still lacking. A complete theoretical modeling of MLDM dynamics is a complex task because it requires an approach based on magnetohydrodynamics. A purpose of this paper is to present and analyze new experimental data of the dynamics of these mirrors from open-loop step response measurements and show that a basic transfer function modeling is adequate to achieve closed-loop control. Also, experimental data on the eigenmodes dynamic is presented and a modal-based control approach is suggested.