Boston Chapter of the IEEE Photonics Society

Abstract:  Micromachined deformable mirrors (DMs) have enabled rapid advances in imaging applications ranging from large telescope astronomy to biological microscopy and retinal imaging over the past decade.  In this talk I describe the efforts at Boston Micromachines Corporation to design, fabricate, and control MEMS DMs for adaptive optics (AO) applications.  Integration of the DMs in AO systems is described, along with results demonstrating unprecedented advances in resolution and contrast in a variety of imaging applications which are  challenged by unavoidable wavefront aberrations.  MEMS-DM research offers the rare opportunity to introduce technology that is both more economical and more capable than the state-of-the-art.

Biography:  Paul Bierden is the President and CEO of Boston Micromachines Corporation, Mr. Bierden received his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Boston University.  He has spent over 15 years working with small businesses.  Since co-founding Boston Micromachines in 1999, he has lead the commercialization efforts of the companies optical MEMS systems which has resulted in global sales of their award winning product. He has also lead research efforts in optical MEMS fabrication, system integration, and compact Adaptive Optics.

Prior to joining Boston Micromachines, Mr. Bierden worked with Prism Corporation as Chief Engineer. While at Prism, he was responsible for the development of new equipment for optical disk manufacturing.

Location:  MIT Lincoln Laboratory