The continual push to directly image exoplanets at lower masses and closer separations orbiting around bright stars remains limited by both quasi-static and residual adaptive optics (AO) aberration. In previous papers we have proposed a modification of the self-coherent camera (SCC) design to address both of these limitations, called the Fast Atmospheric SCC Technique (FAST). In this paper we introduce an additional modification to the FAST focal plane mask design, including the existing Tip/tilt and Gaussian components and adding a charge four Vortex (TGV) component. In addition to boosting SCC fringe signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) as in our previous design, we show that the FAST TGV mask is also optimized to reach high contrast at separations closer to the star. In this paper we use numerical simulations to consider the performance improvement on correcting quasi-static aberration using this new mask compared to the previously proposed Tip/tilt+Gaussian mask. Using active deformable mirror control to generate a calibrated half dark hole improves contrast by a factor of about 200 at 2 - 5 $λ/D$ and up to a factor of 10 at 5 - 20 $λ/D$. The new methodology presented in this paper, now simultaneously considering both contrast and fringe S/N, opens the door to a new ideology of coronagraph design, where the coronagraph is now considered in duality as both a diffraction attenuator and a wavefront sensor.
The raw coronagraphic performance of current high-contrast imaging instruments is limited by the presence of a quasi-static speckle (QSS) background, resulting from instrumental non-common path errors (NCPEs). Rapid development of efficient speckle subtraction techniques in data reduction has enabled final contrasts of up to 10-6 to be obtained, however it remains preferable to eliminate the underlying NCPEs at the source. In this work we introduce the coronagraphic Modal Wavefront Sensor (cMWS), a new wavefront sensor suitable for real-time NCPE correction. This pupil-plane optic combines the…
Combining large segmented space telescopes, coronagraphy and wavefront control methods is a promising solution to produce a dark hole (DH) region in the coronagraphic image of an observed star and study planetary companions. The thermal and mechanical evolution of such a high-contrast facility leads to wavefront drifts that degrade the DH contrast during the observing time, thus limiting the ability to retrieve planetary signals. Lyot-style coronagraphs are starlight suppression systems that remove the central part of the image for an unresolved observed star, the point spread function, with a…
We present new on-sky results for the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics imager (SCExAO) verifying and quantifying the contrast gain enabled by key components: the closed-loop coronagraphic low-order wavefront sensor (CLOWFS) and focal plane wavefront control ("speckle nulling"). SCExAO will soon be coupled with a high-order, Pyramid wavefront sensor which will yield > 90% Strehl ratio and enable 10^6--10^7 contrast at small angular separations allowing us to image gas giant planets at solar system scales. Upcoming instruments like VAMPIRES, FIRST, and CHARIS will expand SCExAO's sci…
We discuss the use of parametric phase-diverse phase retrieval as an in-situ high-fidelity wavefront measurement method to characterize and optimize the transmitted wavefront of a high-contrast coronagraphic instrument. We apply our method to correct the transmitted wavefront of the HiCAT (High contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes) coronagraphic testbed. This correction requires a series of calibration steps, which we describe. The correction improves the system wavefront from 16 nm RMS to 3.0 nm RMS.
For the technology development of the mission EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer) - a 0.7 m telescope equipped with a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph (PIAA-C) and a 2000-element MEMS deformable mirror, capable of raw contrasts of 1e-6 at 1.2 lambda/D and 1e-7 above 2 lambda/D - we developed two test benches simulating its key components, one in air, the other in vacuum. To achieve this level of contrast, one of the main goals is to remove low-order aberrations, using a Low-Order WaveFront Sensor (LOWFS). We tested this key component, together with…
High contrast coronagraphic imaging of the immediate surrounding of stars requires exquisite control of low-order wavefront aberrations, such as tip-tilt (pointing) and focus. We propose an accurate, efficient and easy to implement technique to measure such aberrations in coronagraphs which use a focal plane mask to block starlight. The Coronagraphic Low Order Wavefront Sensor (CLOWFS) produces a defocused image of a reflective focal plane ring to measure low order aberrations. Even for small levels of wavefront aberration, the proposed scheme produces large intensity signals which can be easi…
Stellar coronagraph performance is highly sensitive to optical aberrations. In order to effectively suppress starlight for exoplanet imaging applications, low-order wavefront aberrations entering a coronagraph such as tip-tilt, defocus and coma must be determined and compensated. Previous authors have established the utility of pupil-plane masks (both non-redundant/sparse-aperture and generally asymmetric aperture masks) for wavefront sensing. Here we show how a sparse aperture mask (SAM) can be integrated with a coronagraph to measure low-order, differential phase aberrations. Starlight rejec…
The 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics endorsed space-based high contrast imaging for the detection and characterization of habitable exoplanets as a key priority for the upcoming decade. To advance the maturity of starlight suppression techniques in a space-like environment, we are developing the Space Coronagraph Optical Bench (SCoOB) at the University of Arizona, a new thermal vacuum (TVAC) testbed based on the Coronagraphic Debris Exoplanet Exploring Payload (CDEEP), a SmallSat mission concept for high contrast imaging of circumstellar disks in scattered light. When complete…
We present early laboratory simulations and extensive on-sky tests validating of the performance of a shaped pupil coronagraph (SPC) behind an extreme-AO corrected beam of the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system. In tests with the SCExAO internal source/wavefront error simulator, the normalized intensity profile for the SPC degrades more slowly than for the Lyot coronagraph as low-order aberrations reduce the Strehl ratio from extremely high values (S.R. $\sim$ 0.93--0.99) to those characteristic of current ground-based extreme AO systems (S.R. $\sim$ 0.74--0.93) and t…
High throughput, low inner working angle (IWA) phase masks coronagraphs are essential to directly image and characterize (via spectroscopy) earth-like planets. However, the performance of low-IWA coronagraphs is limited by residual pointing errors and other low-order modes. The extent to which wavefront aberrations upstream of the coronagraph are corrected and calibrated drives coronagraphic performance. Addressing this issue is essential for preventing coronagraphic leaks, thus we have developed a Lyot-based low order wave front sensor (LLOWFS) to control the wavefront aberrations in a corona…
Direct imaging of Earth-like planets from space requires dedicated observatories, combining large segmented apertures with instruments and techniques such as coronagraphs, wavefront sensors, and wavefront control in order to reach the high contrast of 10^10 that is required. The complexity of these systems would be increased by the segmentation of the primary mirror, which allows for the larger diameters necessary to image Earth-like planets but also introduces specific patterns in the image due to the pupil shape and segmentation and making high-contrast imaging more challenging. Among these …
Laboratory demonstration of low order wavefront control using light reflected off the vortex coronagraph
California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（喷气推进实验室，加州理工学院）；Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin（都柏林三一学院，都柏林大学）
The Roman Coronagraph Community Participation Program: Using the Zernike wavefront sensor for a full characterisation of the Roman Space Telescope and the Coronagraph Instrument
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM（艾克斯马赛大学）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；Laboratoire Lagrange, Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS（拉格朗日实验室，蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（喷气推进实验室，加州理工学院）
A key challenge of high contrast imaging (HCI) is to differentiate a speckle from an exoplanet signal. The sources of speckles are a combination of atmospheric residuals and aberrations in the non-common path. Those non-common path aberrations (NCPA) are particularly challenging to compensate for as they are not directly measured, and because they include static, quasi-static and dynamic components. The proposed method directly addresses the challenge of compensating the NCPA. The algorithm DrWHO - Direct Reinforcement Wavefront Heuristic Optimisation - is a quasi-real-time compensation of sta…
The ability to characterize exoplanets by spectroscopy of their atmospheres requires direct imaging techniques to isolate planet signal from the bright stellar glare. One of the limitations with the direct detection of exoplanets, either with ground- or space-based coronagraphs, is pointing errors and other low-order wavefront aberrations. The coronagraphic detection sensitivity at the diffraction limit therefore depends on how well low-order aberrations upstream of the focal plane mask are corrected. To prevent starlight leakage at the inner working angle of a phase mask coronagraph, we have …
HiCAT is a high-contrast imaging testbed designed to provide complete solutions in wavefront sensing, control and starlight suppression with complex aperture telescopes. The pupil geometry of such observatories includes primary mirror segmentation, central obstruction, and spider vanes, which make the direct imaging of habitable worlds very challenging. The testbed alignment was completed in the summer of 2014, exceeding specifications with a total wavefront error of 12nm rms over a 18mm pupil. The installation of two deformable mirrors for wavefront control is to be completed in the winter of…
Directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets (``exoEarths'') with a coronagraph instrument on a space telescope requires a stable wavefront with optical path differences limited to tens of picometers RMS during exposure times of a few hours. While the structural dynamics of a segmented mirror can be directly stabilized with telescope metrology, another possibility is to use a closed-loop wavefront sensing and control system in the coronagraph instrument that operates during the science exposures to actively correct the wavefront and relax the constraints on the stability of the telescope. In this pa…
The current generation of ground-based coronagraphic instruments uses deformable mirrors to correct for phase errors and to improve contrast levels at small angular separations. Improving these techniques, several space and ground based instruments are currently developed using two deformable mirrors to correct for both phase and amplitude errors. However, as wavefront control techniques improve, more complex telescope pupil geome- tries (support structures, segmentation) will soon be a limiting factor for these next generation coronagraphic instruments. In this paper we discuss fundamental li…
High performance coronagraphic imaging of faint structures around bright stars at small angular separations requires fine control of tip, tilt and other low order aberrations. When such errors occur upstream of a coronagraph, they results in starlight leakage which reduces the dynamic range of the instrument. This issue has been previously addressed for occulting coronagraphs by sensing the starlight before or at the coronagraphic focal plane. One such solution, the coronagraphic low order wave-front sensor (CLOWFS) uses a partially reflective focal plane mask to measure pointing errors for Ly…
The challenges of high contrast imaging (HCI) for detecting exoplanets for both ground and space applications can be met with extreme adaptive optics (ExAO), a high-order adaptive optics system that performs wavefront sensing (WFS) and correction at high speed. We describe two ExAO optical system designs, one each for ground-based telescopes and space-based missions, and examine them using the angular spectrum Fresnel propagation module within the Physical Optics Propagation in Python (POPPY) package. We present an end-to-end (E2E) simulation of the MagAO-X instrument, an ExAO system capable o…
The Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph is a high performance coronagraph concept able to work at small angular separation with little loss in throughput. We present results obtained with a laboratory PIAA system including active wavefront control. The system has a 94.3% throughput (excluding coating losses) and operates in air with monochromatic light. Our testbed achieved a 2.27e-7 raw contrast between 1.65 lambda/D (inner working angle of the coronagraph configuration tested) and 4.4 lambda/D (outer working angle). Through careful calibration, we were able to separate thi…
Imaging exo-Earths is an exciting but challenging task because of the 10^-10 contrast ratio between these planets and their host star at separations narrower than 100 mas. Large segmented aperture space telescopes enable the sensitivity needed to observe a large number of planets. Combined with coronagraphs with wavefront control, they present a promising avenue to generate a high-contrast region in the image of an observed star. Another key aspect is the required stability in telescope pointing, focusing, and co-phasing of the segments of the telescope primary mirror for long-exposure observa…
The Magellan extreme adaptive optics (MagAO-X) instrument is a new extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) system designed for operation in the visible to near-IR which will deliver high contrast-imaging capabilities. The main AO system will be driven by a pyramid wavefront sensor (PyWFS); however, to mitigate the impact of quasi-static and non-common path (NCP) aberrations, focal plane wavefront sensing (FPWFS) in the form of low-order wavefront sensing (LOWFS) and spatial linear dark field control (LDFC) will be employed behind a vector apodizing phase plate (vAPP) coronagraph using rejected starligh…
The direct-write technology for liquid-crystal patterns allows for manufacturing of extreme geometric phase patterned coronagraphs that are inherently broadband, e.g. the vector Apodizing Phase Plate (vAPP). We present on-sky data of a double-grating vAPP operating from 2-5 $μm$ with a 360-degree dark hole and a decreased leakage term of $\sim 10^{-4}$. We report a new liquid-crystal design used in a grating-vAPP for SCExAO that operates from 1-2.5$μm$. Furthermore, we present wavelength-selective vAPPs that work at specific wavelength ranges and transmit light unapodized at other wavelengths.…
Direct detection of exoplanets requires high dynamic range imaging. Coronagraphs could be the solution, but their performance in space is limited by wavefront errors (manufacturing errors on optics, temperature variations, etc.), which create quasi-static stellar speckles in the final image. Several solutions have been suggested for tackling this speckle noise. Differential imaging techniques substract a reference image to the coronagraphic residue in a post-processing imaging. Other techniques attempt to actively correct wavefront errors using a deformable mirror. In that case, wavefront aber…
Context. The next generation of space-borne instruments dedicated to the direct detection of exoplanets requires unprecedented levels of wavefront control precision. Coronagraphic wavefront sensing techniques for these instruments must measure both the phase and amplitude of the optical aberrations using the scientific camera as a wavefront sensor. Aims. In this paper, we develop an extension of coronagraphic phase diversity to the estimation of the complex electric field, that is, the joint estimation of phase and amplitude. Methods. We introduced the formalism for complex coronagraphic phase…
Due to the limited number of photons, directly imaging planets requires long integration times with a coronagraphic instrument. The wavefront must be stable on the same time scale, which is often difficult in space due to thermal variations and other mechanical instabilities. In this paper, we discuss the implications on future space mission observing conditions of our recent laboratory demonstration of a dark zone maintenance (DZM) algorithm. The experiments are performed on the High-contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). The …
A NASA sounding rocket for high contrast imaging with a visible nulling coronagraph, the Planet Imaging Coronagraphic Technology Using a Reconfigurable Experimental Base (PICTURE-B) payload has made two suborbital attempts to observe the warm dust disk inferred around Epsilon Eridani. We present results from the November 2015 launch demonstrating active wavefront sensing in space with a piezoelectric mirror stage and a micromachine deformable mirror along with precision pointing and lightweight optics in space.
The behavior of an adaptive optics (AO) system for ground-based high contrast imaging (HCI) dictates the achievable contrast of the instrument. In conditions where the coherence time of the atmosphere is short compared to the speed of the AO system, the servo-lag error can become the dominant error term of the AO system. While the AO system measures the wavefront error and subsequently applies a correction (typically taking a total of one or a few milliseconds), the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope has changed resulting in the servo-lag error. In addition to reducing the Strehl ratio…
Demonstration of simultaneous PIAA- coronagraphy and wavefront sensing using a single metasurface-based focal-plane optic
Leiden University（莱顿大学）；University of California, Santa Barbara（加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校）；University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）；Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（日本国立天文台昴星团望远镜）；National Institutes of Natural Sciences（自然科学研究机构）；Northrop Grumman Corporation（诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司）；Draper Laboratory（德拉珀实验室）；Kirtland Air Force Base（基尔兰空军基地）；Durham University（杜伦大学）
The behavior of an adaptive optics (AO) system for ground-based high contrast imaging (HCI) dictates the achievable contrast of the instrument. In conditions where the coherence time of the atmosphere is short compared to the speed of the AO system, the servo-lag error becomes the dominate error term of the AO system. While the AO system measures the wavefront error and subsequently applies a correction (taking a total of 1 to 2 milli-seconds), the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope has changed. In addition to reducing the Strehl ratio, the servo-lag error causes a build-up of speckles…
Focal plane wavefront sensing and control is a critical approach to reducing non-common path errors between the a conventional astronomical adaptive optics (AO) wavefront sensor (WFS) detector and science camera. However, in addition to mitigating non-common path errors, recent focal plane wavefront sensing techniques have been developed to operate at speeds fast enough to enable "multi-WFS" AO, where residual atmospheric errors are further corrected by a focal plane WFS. Although a number of such techniques have been recently developed for coronagraphic imaging, here we present one designed f…
The PIAA is a now well demonstrated high contrast technique that uses an intermediate remapping of the pupil for high contrast coronagraphy (apodization), before restoring it to recover classical imaging capabilities. This paper presents the first demonstration of complete speckle control loop with one such PIAA coronagraph. We show the presence of a complete set of remapping optics (the so-called PIAA and matching inverse PIAA) is transparent to the wavefront control algorithm. Simple focal plane based wavefront control algorithms can thus be employed, without the need to model remapping effe…
Optical imperfections, misalignments, aberrations, and even dust can significantly limit sensitivity in high-contrast imaging systems such as coronagraphs. An upstream deformable mirror (DM) in the pupil can be used to correct or compensate for these flaws, either to enhance Strehl ratio or suppress residual coronagraphic halo. Measurement of the phase and amplitude of the starlight halo at the science camera is essential for determining the DM shape that compensates for any non-common-path (NCP) wavefront errors. Using DM displacement ripples to create a series of probe and anti-halo speckles…
Enhanced wavefront sensing for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument: Gaussian probes and compact model validation
LIRA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS（巴黎天文台，PSL大学，索邦大学，巴黎西岱大学，CY塞尔吉巴黎大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台，法国国家科学研究中心）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（喷气推进实验室，加州理工学院）；Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM（艾克斯马赛大学，法国国家科学研究中心，法国国家空间研究中心）；NASA Ames Research Center（美国国家航空航天局阿姆斯特朗飞行研究中心）；Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz（加利福尼亚大学圣克鲁兹分校天文学与天体物理学系）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）
The Astro2020 decadal survey recommended an infrared, optical, ultra-violet (IR/O/UV) telescope with a $\sim$6~m inscribed diameter and equipped with a coronagraph instrument to directly image exoEarths in the habitable zone of their host star. A telescope of such size may need to be segmented to be folded and then carried by current launch vehicles. However, a segmented primary mirror introduces the potential for additional mid spatial frequency optical wavefront instabilities during the science operations that would degrade the coronagraph performance. A coronagraph instrument with a wavefro…
Future space telescopes with coronagraph instruments will use a wavefront sensor (WFS) to measure and correct for phase errors and stabilize the stellar intensity in high-contrast images. The HabEx and LUVOIR mission concepts baseline a Zernike wavefront sensor (ZWFS), which uses Zernike's phase contrast method to convert phase in the pupil into intensity at the WFS detector. In preparation for these potential future missions, we experimentally demonstrate a ZWFS in a coronagraph instrument on the Decadal Survey Testbed in the High Contrast Imaging Testbed facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab…
The mission EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer), selected by NASA for technology development, is designed to study the formation, evolution and architectures of exoplanetary systems and characterize circumstellar environments into stellar habitable zones. It is composed of a 0.7 m telescope equipped with a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph (PIAA-C) and a 2000-element MEMS deformable mirror, capable of raw contrasts of 1e-6 at 1.2 lambda/D and 1e-7 above 2 lambda/D. One of the key challenges to achieve those contrasts is to remove low-order aberratio…
In this article we show that the vector-Apodizing Phase Plate (vAPP) coronagraph can be designed such that the coronagraphic point spread functions (PSFs) can act as a wavefront sensor to measure and correct the (quasi-)static aberrations, without dedicated wavefront sensing holograms nor modulation by the deformable mirror. The absolute wavefront retrieval is performed with a non-linear algorithm. The focal-plane wavefront sensing (FPWFS) performance of the vAPP and the algorithm are evaluated with numerical simulations, to test various photon and read noise levels, the sensitivity to the 100…
The specification of polishing requirements for the optics in coronagraphs dedicated to exo-planet detection requires careful and accurate optical modelling. Numerical representations of the propagation of aberrations through the system as well as simulations of the broadband wavefront compensation system using multiple DMs are critical when one devises an error budget for such a class of instruments. In this communication we introduce an analytical tool that serves this purpose for Phase Induced Amplitude Apodisation (PIAA) coronagraphs. We first start by deriving the analytical form of the p…
High-contrast imaging will be a challenge for future ELTs, because their vibrations create low-order aberrations - mostly tip/tilt - that reduce coronagraphic performances at 1.2 lambda/D and above. A Low-Order WaveFront Sensor (LOWFS) is essential to measure and control those aberrations. An experiment simulating a starlight suppression system is currently developed at NASA Ames Research Center, and includes a LOWFS controlling tip/tilt modes in real-time at 500 Hz. The LOWFS allowed us to reduce the tip/tilt disturbances to 1e-3 lambda/D rms, enhancing the previous contrast by a decade, to 8…
Simulation tools for realistic high-order wavefront correction with the Roman Coronagraph
Aix Marseille Université（艾克斯-马赛大学）；CNES（法国国家空间研究中心）；LAM（拉格朗日天体物理实验室）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory（喷气推进实验室）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Université Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸大学）；Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸天文台）；Laboratoire Lagrange（拉格朗日实验室）；NASA Ames Research Center（美国宇航局埃姆斯研究中心）；LIRA（拉格朗日力学与天体物理学实验室）；Observatoire de Paris（巴黎天文台）；Université PSL（巴黎文理研究大学）；Sorbonne Université（索邦大学）；Université Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；CY Cergy Paris Université（塞吉-巴黎大学）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；Centre de donnees Astrophysiques de Marseille (CeSAM)（马赛天体物理数据中心）
High-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (HiCAT): 8. Dark zone demonstration with simultaneous closed-loop low-order wavefront sensing and control
