Geometric-phase-based phase-knife mask for stellar nulling and coronagraphy.

Exoplanets can be detected very close to stars using single-mode cross-aperture nulling interferometry, a photonic technique that relies on the inability of an anti-symmetric stellar point-spread function to couple to the symmetric mode of a single-mode fiber. We prepared an asymmetric field distribution from a laboratory point source using a flat geometric-phase-based pupil-plane phase-knife mask comprised of a planar liquid crystal polymer layer with orthogonal optical axes on opposite sides of a linear pupil bisector. Our mask yielded an on-axis laboratory point-source rejection (i.e., an interferometric "null depth") of 2.2 × 10-5. Potential mask modifications to better reject starlight are described that incorporate additional phase regions to spatially broaden the rejection area, and additional layers to spectrally broaden the rejection. Also discussed is a topological correspondence between the spatial configurations of separated-aperture nullers, cross-aperture nullers and full-aperture phase coronagraphs.

Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations. I. Experimental demonstration in monochromatic light.

Vortex fiber nulling is a method for spectroscopically characterizing exoplanets at small angular separations, ≲λ/D, from their host star. The starlight is suppressed by creating an optical vortex in the system point spread function, which prevents the stellar field from coupling into the fundamental mode of a single-mode optical fiber. Light from the planet, on the other hand, couples into the fiber and is routed to a spectrograph. Using a prototype vortex fiber nuller (VFN) designed for monochromatic light, we demonstrate coupling fractions of 6×10-5 and >0.1 for the star and planet, respectively.

Randomized apertures: high resolution imaging in far field: erratum.

We note a correction to Eq. (6) for [ Opt. Express25(15), 18296 (2017)].

Implementing focal-plane phase masks optimized for real telescope apertures with SLM-based digital adaptive coronagraphy.

Direct imaging of exoplanets or circumstellar disk material requires extreme contrast at the 10-6 to 10-12 levels at < 100 mas angular separation from the star. Focal-plane mask (FPM) coronagraphic imaging has played a key role in this field, taking advantage of progress in Adaptive Optics on ground-based 8 + m class telescopes. However, large telescope entrance pupils usually consist of complex, sometimes segmented, non-ideal apertures, which include a central obstruction for the secondary mirror and its support structure. In practice, this negatively impacts wavefront quality and coronagraphic performance, in terms of achievable contrast and inner working angle. Recent theoretical works on structured darkness have shown that solutions for FPM phase profiles, optimized for non-ideal apertures, can be numerically derived. Here we present and discuss a first experimental validation of this concept, using reflective liquid crystal spatial light modulators as adaptive FPM coronagraphs.

Randomized apertures: high resolution imaging in far field.

We explore opportunities afforded by an extremely large telescope design comprised of ill-figured randomly varying subapertures. The veracity of this approach is demonstrated with a laboratory scaled system whereby we reconstruct a white light binary point source separated by 2.5 times the diffraction limit. With an inherently unknown varying random point spread function, the measured speckle images require a restoration framework that combine support vector machine based lucky imaging and non-negative matrix factorization based multiframe blind deconvolution. To further validate the approach, we model the experimental system to explore sub-diffraction-limited performance, and an object comprised of multiple point sources.

Low-angle optical vortex coronagraphic scatterometer.

The important, but difficult-to-measure zero and low-angle scattering spectrum, as well as the broader angular spectrum, was obtained by use of an optical vortex coronagraphic scatterometer (patent pending). The experimental measurements agreed well with the predictions from the Mie scattering theory. High contrast discrimination allowed us to remove the unscattered coherent illumination, revealing a low-angle superimposed scattered signal.

Reducing the risk of laser damage in a focal plane array using linear pupil-plane phase elements.

A compact imaging system with reduced risk of damage owing to intense laser radiation is presented. We find that a pupil phase element may reduce the peak image plane irradiance from an undesirable laser source by two orders of magnitude, thereby protecting the detector from damage. The desired scene is reconstructed in postprocessing. The general image quality equation (GIQE) [Appl. Opt.36, 8322 (1997)] is used to estimate the interpretability of the resulting images. A localized loss of information caused by laser light is also described. This system may be advantageous over other radiation protection approaches because accurate pointing and nonlinear materials are not required.

Vortex-phase filtering technique for extracting spatial information from unresolved sources.

A white light vortex coronagraph was used to experimentally achieve sub-resolution detection. The angular location of the centroid γ, and the angular extent of circular pinhole sources Θ, were measured to within errors of δγ=±0.015λ/D and δΘ=±0.026λ/D. This technique has two advantages over conventional imaging: simple power measurements are made and shorter exposure times may be required to achieve a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio.

Optical vortex coronagraphy with an elliptical aperture.

An optical vortex coronagraph that makes efficient use of a larger fraction of the clear aperture of a Cassegrain-type telescope is described. This design incorporates an elliptical subaperture rather than the conventional circular subaperture. We derive a new vortex phase mask that maintains the same theoretical contrast of a circularly symmetric vortex coronagraph.