Coronagraph mask tolerances for exo-Earth detection

Lay, Oliver P.; Green, Joseph J.; Hoppe, Daniel; Shaklan, Stuart

doi:10.1117/12.618063

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Coronagraph mask errors include phase and amplitude transmission errors measured in the laboratory 16 , and theoretical models based on detailed electromagnetic calculations of mask 17 . We have also modeled the expected distribution of micrometeoroid damage to the primary mirror.…”

Section: Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph dynamics error budget

Shaklan¹,

Marchen

Green

et al. 2005

Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets II

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The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) demands extreme wave front control and stability to achieve its goal of detecting earth-like planets around nearby stars. We describe the performance models and error budget used to evaluate image plane contrast and derive engineering requirements for this challenging optical system. We show that when the coronagraph is coupled to an 8 th -order band-limited mask, the performance is limited by shearing of the starlight beam across imperfect optics (a.k.a. beam walk), and that this in turn demands tight rigid body pointing, submilliarcsecond fine guiding, high-quality optics, and sub-micron positional stability of the optics including the secondary mirror. Additionally we show that the stability of low-order aberrations (focus, astigmatism, coma, and trefoil) is required to be ~ 2-4 Angstroms, while higher-order modes must remain stable to a few picometers.

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Section: Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph dynamics error budget

Shaklan¹,

Marchen

Green

et al. 2005

Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets II

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“…The placement of the masks near the image plane will need to be precise to millimeter scale, so one of the primary challenges in building this system is likely to be optomechanical-ensuring that both masks remain in planes parallel to the image plane without hitting each other or becoming defocused. The finite thickness of the masks is not likely to be a consideration, however, as existing freestanding image-plane masks can be submil-limeter in thickness (e.g., 400 μm for the "bowtie" masks used on the high-contrast testbed at Princeton [Belikov et al 2007]) as can coatings on coronagraph masks placed on glass (e.g., 200 μm for eighth-order band-limited masks [Lay et al 2005]).…”

Section: Manufacturing Considerations For the Aplcmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Dual-Mask Coronagraph for Observing Faint Companions to Binary Stars

Cady¹,

McElwain²,

Kasdin³

et al. 2011

Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

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Observations of binary stars for faint companions with conventional coronagraphic methods are challenging, as both targets will be bright enough to obscure any nearby faint companions if their scattered light is not suppressed. We propose coronagraphic examination of binary stars using an apodized pupil Lyot coronagraph and a pair of actively-controlled image plane masks to suppress both stars simultaneously. The performance is compared to imaging with a band-limited mask, a dual-mask Lyot coronagraph and with no coronagraph at all. An imaging procedure and control system for the masks are also described.

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