Performance of an achromatic focal plane mask for exoplanet imaging coronagraphy

Kevin Newman; Ruslan Belikov; Eugene Pluzhnik; Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian; Dan Wilson

doi:10.1117/12.2055354

19 August 2014 Performance of an achromatic focal plane mask for exoplanet imaging coronagraphy

Kevin Newman, Ruslan Belikov, Eugene Pluzhnik, Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian, Dan Wilson

Proceedings Volume 9151, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation; 91515O (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055354
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Coronagraph technology combined with wavefront control is close to achieving the contrast and inner working angle requirements in the lab necessary to observe the faint signal of an Earth-like exoplanet in monochromatic light. An important remaining technological challenge is to achieve high contrast in broadband light. Coronagraph bandwidth is largely limited by chromaticity of the focal plane mask, which is responsible for blocking the stellar PSF. The size of a stellar PSF scales linearly with wavelength; ideally, the size of the focal plane mask would also scale with wavelength. A conventional hard-edge focal plane mask has a fixed size, normally sized for the longest wavelength in the observational band to avoid starlight leakage. The conventional mask is oversized for shorter wavelengths and blocks useful discovery space. Recently we presented a solution to the size chromaticity challenge with a focal plane mask designed to scale its effective size with wavelength. In this paper, we analyze performance of the achromatic size-scaling focal plane mask within a Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph. We present results from wavefront control around the achromatic focal plane mask, and demonstrate the size-scaling effect of the mask with wavelength. The edge of the dark zone, and therefore the inner working angle of the coronagraph, scale with wavelength. The achromatic mask enables operation in a wider band of wavelengths compared with a conventional hard-edge occulter.

Citation Download Citation

Kevin Newman, Ruslan Belikov, Eugene Pluzhnik, Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian, and Dan Wilson "Performance of an achromatic focal plane mask for exoplanet imaging coronagraphy", Proc. SPIE 9151, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation, 91515O (19 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055354

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
7 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Point spread functions

Coronagraphy

Exoplanets

Planets

Wavefronts

Deformable mirrors

Mirrors

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years