MOEMS deformable mirrors for focus control in vital microscopy

Deformable membrane mirrors are promising MOEMS devices for focus control and aberration correction in vital microscopy, offering high speed focus adjustment in an optical system that can be miniaturized for in vivo use. This paper describes mirrors comprising metalized polymer membranes suspended over three concentric circular electrodes for electrostatic actuation. The membranes are 2-μm thick and 3 mm in diameter, made from the fully cross-linked photoset epoxy SU-8 2002. A layer of SU-8 2025 is used to establish a 30-μm thick air gap between the electrodes and the membrane mirror. The membranes are actuated by applying voltage to each electrode individually to achieve displacement as large as 12 μm while minimizing spherical aberration. Surface deflection is studied using phase-shift interferometry under both static and dynamic excitation. Using the deformable MOEMS mirror for focus control in an optical microscope we demonstrate the ability to adjust the location of the focal plane by 85 μm using an N.A. = 0.75 optical system.