2026/01/30 by Christian Robles, Suvrath Mahadevan · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #Calibration #Digital micromirror device #Photovoltaic system #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar energy #Spectroscopy #astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.IM #astro-ph.SR #solar cell performance optimization
paper · pdf · doi:10.1117/12.3080954
14 pages, 11 figures. Author's version of Paper 13918-28 presented at SPIE Photonics West, Emerging Digital Micromirror Device Based Systems and Applications XVIII, January 2026. To appear in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 13918
arxiv created 2026/01/30 · openalex created_date 2026/02/04 · openalex publication_date 2026/03/05 · arxiv updated 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We present the motivation and early tests for a novel solar instrument that will harness the new High Efficiency Pixel (HEP) Texas Instruments DLP801RE Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) as a reconfigurable spatial light modulator. This design enables real-time, dynamic configuration of the field of view for targeted spectroscopy of magnetically active regions and full-disk observations. Optical efficiency was validated through simulations and laser testing. Destructive window removal allowed for detailed structural analysis, confirming the elimination of central vias present in previous models. We measured a contrast ratio of 250:1, currently limited by the evaluation board's duty cycle rather than the DMD itself. Furthermore, we successfully simulated artificial planetary transits, recovering depths ranging from gas giants to a 40 ppm rocky planet transit. These results demonstrate the HEP DMD's potential for high-precision solar and exoplanetary science applications.