Off-axis parabolas super polished under stress: the case of the Roman Space Telescope coronagraphic instrument mirrors

Abstract

Direct imaging of exoplanets requires high contrast imaging techniques that demand tight tolerances on the optical surface error. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) (previously named WFIRST) aims to perform direct imaging of SuperEarth-like exoplanets through its active coronographic instrument (CGI). Eight off-axis parabola (OAP) mirrors are utilised within the CGI to create a compact instrument and to ensure access to the pupil and focal planes. The surface form error and surface roughness of these relay optics directly impact the quality of the dark hole, and therfore the observable location for exoplanets. A new fabrication process for OAP manufacture via stressed mirror polishing (SMP) is presented in this paper. First, the design of the mirror substrate is investigated to create an innovative thickness distribution capable of producing the OAP geometry with a simple warping harness composed by two micrometer screws. Second, the novel design is implemented on a 60 mm diameter OAP prototype in Zerodur; a description of the fabrication process chain and the characterisation of the optical surface over all spatial frequencies are presented. Results from this first prototype demonstrated that the surface form error deviates from < 1 nm root means square (RMS) from the simulations and with a surface roughness of 2.1˚ Ra.