Visible nulling coronagraphy testbed development for exoplanet detection

Richard G. Lyon; Mark Clampin; Robert A. Woodruff; Gopal Vasudevan; Patrick Thompson; Andrew Chen; Peter Petrone; Andrew Booth; Timothy Madison; Matthew Bolcar; M. Charley Noecker; Stephen Kendrick; Gary Melnick; Volker Tolls

doi:10.1117/12.857472

6 August 2010 Visible nulling coronagraphy testbed development for exoplanet detection

Richard G. Lyon, Mark Clampin, Robert A. Woodruff, Gopal Vasudevan, Patrick Thompson, Andrew Chen, Peter Petrone, Andrew Booth, Timothy Madison, Matthew Bolcar, M. Charley Noecker, Stephen Kendrick, Gary Melnick, Volker Tolls

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7731, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave; 77312B (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857472
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Three of the recently completed NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept (ASMC) studies addressed the feasibility of using a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) as the prime instrument for exoplanet science. The VNC approach is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted aperture telescope systems and thus spans the space of potential ASMC exoplanet missions. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance the this approach and the technologies associated with it. Herein we report on the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). The VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under high bandwidth closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible light nulling milestones of sequentially higher contrasts of 10⁸, 10⁹ and 10¹⁰ at an inner working angle of 2*λ/D and ultimately culminate in spectrally broadband (>20%) high contrast imaging. Each of the milestones, one per year, is traceable to one or more of the ASMC studies. The VNT uses a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, modified with a modified "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. Discussed will be the optical configuration laboratory results, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

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Richard G. Lyon, Mark Clampin, Robert A. Woodruff, Gopal Vasudevan, Patrick Thompson, Andrew Chen, Peter Petrone, Andrew Booth, Timothy Madison, Matthew Bolcar, M. Charley Noecker, Stephen Kendrick, Gary Melnick, and Volker Tolls "Visible nulling coronagraphy testbed development for exoplanet detection", Proc. SPIE 7731, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 77312B (6 August 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857472

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