Characterization of microdot apodizers for imaging exoplanets with next-generation space telescopes
2018
A major science goal of future, large-aperture,
optical spacetelescopes is to directly image and spectroscopically analyze reflected light from potentially habitable
exoplanets. To accomplish this, the optical system must suppress diffracted light from the star to reveal point sources approximately ten orders of magnitude fainter than the host star at small angular separation.
Coronagraphswith
microdot
apodizersachieve the theoretical performance needed to image Earth-like planets with a range of possible telescope designs, including those with obscured and segmented pupils. A test
microdot
apodizerwith various bulk patterns (
step functions, gradients, and sinusoids) and 4 different dot sizes (3, 5, 7, and 10 $\mu$m) made of small chrome squares on anti-reflective glass was characterized with microscopy, optical laser interferometry, as well as transmission and reflectance measurements at wavelengths of 600 and 800 nm. Microscopy revealed the
microdotswere fabricated to high precision. Results from laser interferometry showed that the phase shifts observed in reflection vary with the local
microdot
fill factor. Transmission measurements showed that
microdot
fill factorand transmission were linearly related for dot sizes >5 $\mu$m. However, anomalously high transmittance was measured when the dot size is <5x the wavelength and the
fill factoris approximately 50%, where the
microdotpattern becomes periodic. The transmission excess is not as prominent in the case of larger dot sizes suggesting that it is likely to be caused by the interaction between the incident field and electronic resonances in the surface of the metallic
microdots. We used our empirical models of the
microdot
apodizersto optimize a second generation of reflective
apodizerdesigns and confirmed that the amplitude and phase of the reflected beam closely matches the ideal wavefront.
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