Related papers: Extinction controlled adaptive phase-mask coronagr…
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) mission will require coronagraphs capable of suppressing starlight at the $\sim 10^{-10}$ contrast level to directly image exo-Earths. High contrast achromatic coronagraphic masks are the missing…
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.…
We propose a new approach for high-contrast imaging at the diffraction limit using segmented telescopes in a modest observation bandwidth. This concept, named "spectroscopic fourth-order coronagraphy", is based on a fourth-order coronagraph…
This paper introduces an analytical method to calculate segment-level wavefront error tolerances in order to enable the detection of faint extra-solar planets using segmented telescopes in space. This study provides a full treatment of…
Existing Electric Field Conjugation (EFC) methods are not suited for treating small polarization effects, referred to here as cross polarization. EFC utilizes a deformable mirror (DM) to nullify the electric fields from the host star within…
We conducted a number of multi-band coronagraph experiments using a vacuum chamber and a binary-shaped pupil mask which in principle should work at all wavelengths, in the context of the research and development on a coronagraph to observe…
Small-angle coronagraphy is technically and scientifically appealing because it enables the use of smaller telescopes, allows covering wider wavelength ranges, and potentially increases the yield and completeness of circumstellar…
We study the way Lyot coronagraphs with unapodized entrance pupils respond to small, low order phase aberrations. This study is applicable to ground-based adaptive optics coronagraphs operating at 90% and higher Strehl ratios, as well as to…
Interferometric methods, renowned for their reliability and precision, play a vital role in phase imaging. Interferometry typically requires high coherence and stability between the measured and the reference beam. The presence of rapid…
High-contrast imaging from space must overcome two major noise sources to successfully detect a terrestrial planet angularly close to its parent star: photon noise from diffracted star light, and speckle noise from star light scattered by…
In many areas of imaging science, it is difficult to measure the phase of linear measurements. As such, one often wishes to reconstruct a signal from intensity measurements, that is, perform phase retrieval. In this paper, we provide a…
Coronagraph designs which use photonic integrated circuits have the highest theoretical throughput for off-axis signals, and therefore the highest potential exoplanet yield for future high-contrast direct imaging campaigns. Using the…
Bispectrum phase, closure phase and their generalisation to kernel-phase are all independent of pupil-plane phase errors to first-order. This property, when used with Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) behind adaptive optics, has been used…
Coronagraph instruments on future space telescopes will enable the direct detection and characterization of Earth-like exoplanets around Sun-like stars for the first time. The quest for the optimal optical coronagraph designs has made rapid…
One of the main challenges for the direct imaging of planets around nearby stars is the suppression of the diffracted halo from the primary star. Coronagraphs are angular filters that suppress this diffracted halo. The Apodizing Phase Plate…
High contrast imaging (HCI) is fundamentally limited by wavefront aberrations, and the ability to perform wavefront sensing from focal plane images is key to reach the full potential of ground and space-based instruments. Vortex focal plane…
Direct exo-Earth imaging is a key science goal for astronomy in the next decade. This ambitious task imposes a target contrast of ~10^-7 at wavelengths from I to J-band. In our prior study, we determined that polarization aberrations can…
The super-sensitivity attained in quantum phase estimation is known to be compromised in the presence of decoherence. This is particularly patent at blind spots -- phase values at which sensitivity is totally lost. One remedy is to use a…
Phase-contrast and dark-field imaging are relatively new X-ray imaging modalities that provide additional information to conventional attenuation-based imaging. However, this new information comes at the price of a more complex acquisition…
Direct imaging and spectroscopy of Earth-like planets and young Jupiters require contrasts up to 10^6-10^10 at angular separations of a few dozen milliarcseconds. To achieve this goal, one of the most promising approaches consists of using…