Related papers: Integrated optics interferometric four telescopes …
Nulling interferometry is a promising technique for direct detection of exoplanets. However, the performance of current devices is limited by different perturbations sources and especially by its sensitivity to any phase aberrations. The…
Nulling interferometry is a technique providing high angular resolution which is the core of the space missions Darwin and the Terrestrail Planet Finder. The first objective is to reach a deep degree of starlight cancelation in the range 6…
Imaging the direct light signal from a faint exoplanet against the overwhelming glare of its host star presents one of the fundamental challenges to modern astronomical instrumentation. Achieving sufficient signal-to-noise for detection by…
One of the biggest challenges associated with a nulling interferometer-based approach to detecting extra-solar Earth-like planets comes from the extremely stringent requirements of pathlength, polarization and amplitude matching in the…
The use of interferometric nulling for the direct characterization of extrasolar planets is an exciting prospect, but one that faces many practical challenges when deployed on telescopes. The largest limitation is the extreme sensitivity of…
Integrated optic beam combiners offer many advantages over conventional bulk optic implementations for astronomical imaging. To date, integrated optic beam combiners have only been demonstrated at operating wavelengths below 4 microns.…
The characterisation of exoplanets is critical to understanding planet diversity and formation, their atmospheric composition and the potential for life. This endeavour is greatly enhanced when light from the planet can be spatially…
In this paper, we review the various ways in which an infrared stellar interferometer can be used to perform direct detection of extrasolar planetary systems. We first review the techniques based on classical stellar interferometry, where…
Integrated-optic components are being increasingly used in astrophysics, mainly where accuracy and precision are paramount. One such emerging technology is nulling interferometry that targets high contrast and high angular resolution. Two…
Starlight suppression techniques for High-Contrast Imaging (HCI) are crucial to achieving the demanding contrast ratios and inner working angles required for detecting and characterizing exoplanets with a wide range of masses and…
(Abridged) Context: In the previous paper in this series, we identified that a pentagonal arrangement of five telescopes, using a kernel-nulling beam combiner, shows notable advantages for some important performance metrics for a…
Vortex fiber nulling is a method for spectroscopically characterizing exoplanets at small angular separations, $\lesssim\lambda/D$, from their host star. The starlight is suppressed by creating an optical vortex in the system point spread…
It has been recently demonstrated that integrated optics could enhance accuracy, stability, and ease of use of stellar interferometry techniques. The subject of this thesis is the study of an optical component based on singlemode waveguides…
We propose a new instrumental concept for long-baseline optical single-mode interferometry using integrated optics which were developed for telecommunication. Visible and infrared multi-aperture interferometry requires many optical…
Nulling interferometry is an astronomical technique that combines equal wavefronts to achieve a deep rejection ratio of an on-axis star, and that could permit to detect Earth-like planets in the mid-infrared band 5 -- 20 microns. Similarly…
A scheme to optimally design a beam combiner is discussed for any pre-determined fixed geometry nulling interferometer aimed at detection and characterization of exoplanets with multiple telescopes or a single telescope (aperture masking).…
Vortex Fiber Nulling (VFN) is an interferometric method for suppressing starlight to detect and spectroscopically characterize exoplanets. It relies on a vortex phase mask and single-mode fiber to reject starlight while simultaneously…
Space borne nulling interferometry in the mid-infrared waveband is one of the most promising techniques for characterizing the atmospheres of extra-solar planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent star, and possibly discovering…
We report first white-light interferograms obtained with an integrated optics beam combiner on a glass plate. These results demonstrate the feasability of single-mode interferometric beam combination with integrated optics technology…
In this paper are reviewed various designs of advanced, multi-aperture optical systems dedicated to high angular resolution imaging or to the detection of exo-planets by nulling interferometry. A simple Fourier optics formalism applicable…