N. Yaitskova

Design, analysis, and testing of a microdot apodizer for the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph

Context. Coronagraphic techniques are required for detecting exoplanets with future Extremely Large Telescopes. One concept, the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC), combines an apodizer in the entrance aperture with a Lyot opaque mask in the focal plane. This paper presents the manufacturing and testing of a microdots apodizer optimized for the near IR. Aims. We attempt to demonstrate the feasibility and performance of binary apodizers for the APLC. This study is also relevant to coronagraph using amplitude pupil apodization. Methods. A binary apodizer was designed using a halftone-dot process, where the binary array of pixels with either 0% or 100% transmission was calculated to fit the required continuous transmission, i.e. local transmission control was obtained by varying the relative density of the opaque and transparent pixels. An error-di! usion algorithm was used to optimize the distribution of pixels that approximated the required field transmission. The prototype was tested with a coronagraphic setup in the near IR. Results. The transmission profile of the prototype agrees with the theoretical shape to within 3% and is achromatic. The observed apodized and coronagraphic images are consistent with theory. However, binary apodizers introduce high frequency noise that is a function of the pixel size. Numerical simulations were used to specify pixel size and minimize this e! ect, and validated by experiment. Conclusions. Thispaper demonstrates that binary apodizers are wellsuited for use in high-contrast imaging coronagraphs. The correct choice of pixel size is important and must be addressed by considering the scientific field of view.

Comparison of coronagraphs for high-contrast imaging in the context of extremely large telescopes

We compare coronagraph concepts and investigate their behavior and suitability for planet finder projects with Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs, 30-42 meters class telescopes). For this task, we analyze the impact of major error sources that occur in a coronagraphic telescope (central obscuration, secondary support, low-order segment aberrations, segment reflectivity variations, pointing errors) for phase, amplitude and interferometric type coronagraphs. This analysis is performed at two different levels of the detection process: under residual phase left uncorrected by an eXtreme Adaptive Optics system (XAO) for a large range of Strehl ratio and after a general and simple model of speckle calibration, assuming common phase aberrations between the XAO and the coronagraph (static phase aberrations of the instrument) and non-common phase aberrations downstream of the coronagraph (differential aberrations provided by the calibration unit). We derive critical parameters that each concept will have to cope with by order of importance. We evidence three coronagraph categories as function of the accessible angular separation and proposed optimal one in each case. Most of the time amplitude concepts appear more favorable and specifically, the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph gathers the adequate characteristics to be a baseline design for ELTs.

ZEUS, a cophasing sensor based on the Zernike phase contrast method

We describe the ZEUS phasing camera for future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) based on the Zernike phase contrast method. A prototype instrument is under construction for implementation in the Active Phasing Experiment (APE), a VLT test bed scheduled for operation in 2007. The paper describes theoretical aspects of the method and its experimental validation, as well as the instrumental implementation for APE. Aspects of its implementation in an ELT are also discussed. While the classical Zernike method uses a phase mask with diameter approximately equal to the Airy disk, we employ a mask the size of the seeing disk. This allows us to overcome the problems related to atmospheric turbulence, whose low spatial frequency phase errors are much larger than the co-phasing errors to be measured. The thickness (OPD) of the mask can be set to lambda/4 - as in the classical case - for maximum signal strength, but for initial phasing where phase errors are much larger than the sensors linear range (+/-lambda/4), a thinner mask produces a cleaner signal more easily exploitable, leaving the signal analysis more robust. A multi wavelength approach is implemented in order to extend the capture range of the sensor, and the ultimate precision is reached using an iterative approach. End-to-end simulations indicating an achievable precision within the required precision will be shown.

Design and performances of the Shack-Hartmann sensor within the Active Phasing Experiment

The Shack-Hartmann Phasing Sensor (SHAPS) has been integrated in the Active Phasing Experiment (APE) at ESO. It is currently under test in the laboratory. The tests on sky are foreseen for the end of 2008, when APE will be mounted at the Nasmyth focus of one of the VLT unit telescopes. SHAPS is based on the Shack-Hartmann principle: the lenslet array is located in a plane which is optically conjugated to the Active Segmented Mirror (ASM) of APE and is composed of two types of microlenses, circular and cylindrical, which give information about the wavefront slope and the piston steps, respectively. This proceeding contains a description of SHAPS and of the algorithms implemented for the wavefront reconstruction and for the phasing. The preliminary results obtained during the laboratory tests are discussed and compared with the theoretical predictions. The performances of SHAPS at the VLT and at the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) are estimated.

Pattern recognition and signal analysis in a Mach-Zehnder type phasing sensor

The primary mirror of future Extremely Large Telescopes will be composed of hundreds of individual segments. Misalignments in piston and tip-tilt of such segments must be reduced to a small fraction of the observing wavelength in order not to affect the image quality of these telescopes. In the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment carried out at ESO, new phasing techniques based on the concept of pupil plane detection will be tested. The misalignments of the segments produce amplitude variations at locations on a CCD detector corresponding to the locations of the segment edges. The position of the segment edges on a CCD image must first be determined with pixel accuracy in order to localize the signals which can be analyzed in a second phase with a robust signal analysis algorithm. A method to retrieve the locations of the edges and a phasing algorithm to measure the misalignments between the segments with an accuracy of a few nanometers have been developed. This entire phasing procedure will be presented. The performance of the pattern recognition algorithm will be studied as a function of the number of photons, the amplitude of the segment misalignments and their distribution. Finally, the accuracy achieved under conditions similar to the ones met during observation will be discussed.

The EPICS project for the European Extremely Large Telescope: outcome of the Planet Finder concept study for OWL

The Exo-Planets Imaging Camera and Spectrograph (EPICS), is the Planet Finder Instrument concept for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The study made in the frame of the OWL 100-m telescope concept is being up-dated in direct relation with the re-baselining activities of the European Extremely Large Telescope.

The EPICS project: Exoplanets detection with OWL

This paper presents the status of the EPICS project, an Earth-like Planets Imaging Camera Spectrograph for OWL. We present the Top-Level-Requirements of the instrument and we describe the baseline of the Adaptive Optics system with optimized wave-front sensor. The expected performance in rejection of starlight in the near infrared and in the visible is given. The instruments concepts for detection and characterization of exo-planets will be briefly described. The Signal-to-Noise ratio estimation shows that Earth-like planets can be detected up to 20 pc in a reasonable amount of time. The extremely challenging requirements in terms of static residual errors and differential aberrations are discussed.

Disentangling between low order telescope aberrations and segmentation errors using a Shack-Hartmann sensor

The shape correction of the mirrors is a crucial operation to obtain diffraction limited images in actively controlled telescopes. If the mirror is not monolithic, the segmentation errors introduced by piston, tip and tilt of the segments are superimposed on the continuous aberrations. In the case of a sensor based on the measurement of the wave front slopes, like the Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor, an algorithm which allows separating the different contributions is necessary for a proper correction. In the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment (APE) carried out at ESO, we have developed a simple algorithm which can be applied to compute the aberrations and the tip-tilt coefficients using the information obtained with a Shack-Hartmann sensor. It is based on the construction of an orthogonal base in the space of the wave front slope functions. The description of the algorithm and its performance in the cases of low-order aberrations superimposed on tip-tilt misalignment of the segments are reported. A particular application of this technique in the case of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is discussed and the expected upper limits for the residual errors after correction are estimated.

Preliminary results obtained with the ZEUS phasing sensor within the APE experiment

In the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment (APE), four different phasing techniques are tested. The ZErnike Unit for Segment phasing sensor (ZEUS) is integrated on the APE bench. APE has been tested in the laboratory before it will be installed on one of the Nasmyth platform of a Very Large Telescope (VLT) Unit Telescope to perform on sky tests. The ZEUS phasing sensor concept has its origins in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer equipped with a spatial filter in its focal plane. In this paper, the ZEUS phasing sensor is described together with its theoretical background and deployment within the APE experiment. The algorithms and its elements used to reconstruct the wavefront are described. Finally, the preliminary results obtained in the laboratory are presented.

On-sky results of the ZEUS phasing sensor, closed-loop precision in the context of multi-wavelength measurements

The Active Phasing Experiment (APE) was designed to test four different phasing techniques and to validate wavefront control concepts for Extremely Large Telescopes. One of the sensors is the ZErnike Unit for Segment phasing (ZEUS), which was successfully tested on-sky along with the rest of the APE experiment at one of the Nasmyth platforms of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2009. During the four observing campaigns, multiple results were obtained in open-loop and in closed-loop at different wavelengths. We present in this paper an analysis of the multi-wavelength data in terms of piston measurement precision at the edges of the segments and on the reconstructed wavefront, and an analysis of the evolution of these errors in successive closed-loop runs at different wavelengths. This work demonstrates how the applied multi-wavelength algorithm leads to convergence, allowing phasing of segments with piston errors of several microns.