Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-5xszh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T05:00:15.198Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph: an overview of simulations and laboratory effort.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2006

Eugene A. Pluzhnik
Affiliation:
Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA, email: pea@naoj.org Institute of Astronomy of Kharkov National University, Sumskaya 35, Kharkov 61022, Ukraine
Olivier Guyon
Affiliation:
Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA, email: pea@naoj.org
Stephen Ridgway
Affiliation:
National Optical Astronomical Observatories
Robert Woodruff
Affiliation:
Lockheed Martin Space Corporation
Celia Blain
Affiliation:
Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA, email: pea@naoj.org
Frantz Martinache
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Haute Provence
Raphael Galicher
Affiliation:
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The high contrast (typically $10^{10}$) and small angular separation between a planet and its parent star are the main challenges that need to be overcome to detect and characterize Earth-like planets around the nearest stars. Therefore, exoplanet imaging requires the use of a coronagraph, that ideally efficiently cancels the light from the star and has minimal influence on the planet image. The Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph relies on pupil apodization by geometrical remapping of the flux in the pupil plane. This method combines the advantages of classical pupil apodization with high throughput ($\approx$100%) and high angular resolution (${\approx}\lambda/D$), and has some unique advantages over most coronagraphs, such as low chromaticity, low sensitivity to stellar angular size and to small pointing errors. As a result, planet detection time is about 50–100 times shorter in comparison with classical coronagraphic techniques (Martinache et al. 2005).

Both the advantages of the PIAAC and the main factors affecting the performance of the coronograph will be examined in our laboratory experiment in which high quality PIAA optics wilkl be combined with wavefront control to demonstrate achromatic high contrast imaging ($10^6$ or more) at small angular separation (less than $2\lambda/D$). We present here a description and current status of this experiment together with a short analyses of the main factors affecting the performance of the coronograph.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© 2006 International Astronomical Union