New technologies for exoplanet detection with mid-IR interferometers

Lawson, Peter R.; Lay, Oliver P.; Martin, S. R.; Peters, Robert; Booth, A. J.; Gappinger, Robert O.; Ksendzov, A.; Scharf, Daniel P.

doi:10.1051/epjconf/20111607001

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Such modelling may include a series of unresolved planets near a host star or simply the dust clouds around the central star. This is the method proposed in future exoplanet imaging space missions like TPF 9 . These missions seek to combine light such that exoplanets are distinct from their host star.…”

Section: Interferometric Detection Of Exoplanetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chalcogenide glass planar MIR couplers for future chip based Bracewell interferometers

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Photonic integrated circuits are established as the technique of choice for a number of astronomical processing functions due to their compactness, high level of integration, low losses, and stability. Temperature control, mechanical vibration and acoustic noise become controllable for such a device enabling much more complex processing than can realistically be considered with bulk optics. To date the benefits have mainly been at wavelengths around 1550 nm but in the important Mid-Infrared region, standard photonic chips absorb light strongly. Chalcogenide glasses are well known for their transparency to beyond 10000 nm, and the first results from coupler devices intended for use in an interferometric nuller for exoplanetary observation in the Mid-Infrared L' band (3800-4200 nm) are presented here showing that suitable performance can be obtained both theoretically and experimentally for the first fabricated devices operating at 4000 nm.

show abstract

Section: Interferometric Detection Of Exoplanetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chalcogenide glass planar MIR couplers for future chip based Bracewell interferometers

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A Host-star Calibration Based Polarimeter for Earth-like Exoplanet Imaging

Ren

Ranganathan

Christian

2019

PASP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We propose a polarimeter, which is dedicated to Earth-like exoplanet imaging for future space missions. We adopt a minimum-polarization-component design philosophy, which makes a compact and robust system as well as highperformance achievable in the real world. Our polarimeter consists of two polarization components of a liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVR) and a Wollaston prism. The polarimeter can deliver an extra contrast better than 10 −4.5 . Combined with one of the currently available coronagraphs that are delivering a contrast on the order of 10 −6.5 , the coronagraph and polarimeter system can deliver a contrast better than 10 −11 at a small inner working angle in the visible over the entire imaging plane. We discuss the polarimeter design concept and dedicated datareduction technique. Our unique host-star calibration algorithm allows the starlight to be totally removed, regardless of whether the host-star image is intrinsically polarized or whether the light is polarized by preoptics, such as the telescope that is located before the polarimeter, which makes exoplanet polarization imaging feasible with any telescope, optical system, and target star. Using minimum-polarization components with a solid-state image LCVR as the key polarization component, our polarimeter is less sensitive to the wavefront phase and amplitude errors than other exoplanet imaging techniques. Based on commercial-grade optical components, we demonstrated for the first time that by combining our polarimeter with a currently available coronagraph, the polarimeter and coronagraph system can deliver a contrast better than 10 −11 at a small inner working angle in the visible wavelengths, which paves the way for Earth-like exoplanet imaging for a future space mission.

show abstract

New technologies for exoplanet detection with mid-IR interferometers

Abstract: Abstract. This paper provides an overview of technology development for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I). TPF-I is a mid-infrared space interferometer being designed with the capability of detecting Earth-like planets in the habitable zones around nearby stars.

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

Chalcogenide glass planar MIR couplers for future chip based Bracewell interferometers

Chalcogenide glass planar MIR couplers for future chip based Bracewell interferometers

A Host-star Calibration Based Polarimeter for Earth-like Exoplanet Imaging

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About