Fully flexible-supported curved prism and microvibration suppression for a hyperspectral imager

To overcome the optical surface deformation and positional instability of a large-aperture short-wave infrared hyperspectral imager under gravity, thermal, and micro-vibration conditions, a fully flexible support structure (FFSS) is proposed. The structure employs multiple flexible adhesive rings arranged around the periphery of the curved prism to mitigate assembly stress, thermal stress, and gravitational deformation. In addition, an integrated three-degree-of-freedom passive vibration isolation (PVI) mechanism is introduced to suppress micro-vibrations induced by cryocooler operation. Experiments demonstrate that the FFSS achieves a surface figure accuracy better than λ/31.3 (λ=632.8 nm) under combined gravity and temperature variations (20±2°C). The PVI structure provides 96.7% isolation efficiency at the cryocooler’s fundamental frequency of 42 Hz. After system integration using computer-generated holograms and point source microscopy, mechanical and thermo-optical testing confirms that the modulation transfer function remains above 0.52 at 20.83 lp/mm and exhibits stable performance across varying operational conditions. These results validate the effectiveness and engineering feasibility of the proposed support structure and micro-vibration suppression approach.