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The mission EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer), selected by NASA for technology development, is designed to study the formation, evolution and architectures of exoplanetary systems and characterize…
We present a promising approach to the extremely fast sensing and correction of small wavefront errors in adaptive optics systems. As our algorithm's computational complexity is roughly proportional to the number of actuators, it is…
Optical and near-infrared Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, are low-temperature detectors with inherent spectral resolution that are able to instantly register individual photons with potentially no false counts or readout…
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…
Optical imperfections, misalignments, aberrations, and even dust can significantly limit sensitivity in high-contrast imaging systems such as coronagraphs. An upstream deformable mirror (DM) in the pupil can be used to correct or compensate…
The development of spaceborne coronagraphic technology is of paramount importance to the detection of habitable exoplanets in visible light. In space, coronagraphs are able to bypass the limitations imposed by the atmosphere to reach deeper…
We discuss the results of a multi-wavelength differential imaging lab experiment with the High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The HCIT combines a Lyot coronagraph with a Xinetics deformable mirror in a…
The correction of quasi-static wavefront errors within a coronagraphic optical system will be a key challenge to overcome in order to directly image exoplanets in reflected light. These quasi-static errors are caused by mid to high-order…
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…
The ultimate performance of coronagraphic high contrast exoplanet imaging systems such as SPHERE or GPI is limited by quasi-static aberrations. These aberrations produce speckles that can be mistaken for planets in the image. In order to…
Different imaging modalities are used to extract the diverse information carried in an optical field. Two prominent modalities include bright field and phase contrast microscopy that can visualize the amplitude and phase features of a…
The vortex coronagraph is one of the most promising coronagraphs for high contrast imaging because of its simplicity, small inner working angle, high throughput, and clear off-axis discovery space. However, as with most coronagraphs,…
The future of space and ground based telescopes is intimately tied to technology and algorithm development surrounding wavefront sensing and control. Only with cutting edge developments and unusual ideas will we be able to build diffraction…
High angular resolution imaging is an increasingly important capability in contemporary astrophysics. Of particular relevance to emerging fields such as the characterisation of exoplanetary systems, imaging at the required spatial scales…
In this paper, first we present a review of experimental data corresponding to phase retardation per reflection of interferential mirrors. Then, we report our new measurements on both commercial and tailor-made mirrors. To be able to…
The detection of molecular species in the atmospheres of earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby stars requires an optical system that suppresses starlight and maximizes the sensitivity to the weak planet signals at small angular separations.…
The vortex coronagraph is an optical instrument that precisely removes on-axis starlight allowing for high contrast imaging at small angular separation from the star, thereby providing a crucial capability for direct detection and…
The weak measurement wavefront sensor detects the phase gradient of light like the Shack-Hartmann sensor does. However, the use of one thin birefringent crystal to displace light beams results in a wavelength-dependent phase difference…
Optical beams and starlight distorted by atmospheric turbulence can be corrected with adaptive optics systems to enable efficient coupling into single-mode fibers. Deformable mirrors, used to flatten the wavefront in astronomical…
Co-phase and co-focus detection is one of the key technologies for large-aperture segmented mirror telescopes. In this paper, a new edge sensor based on fringes of equal thickness is developed, which can detect each segment's relative…