High-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (HiCAT): 8. Dark zone demonstration with simultaneous closed loop low-order wavefront sensing and control
Year: 2022
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: We present recent laboratory results demonstrating high-contrast coronagraphy for the future space-based large IR/Optical/Ultraviolet telescope recommended by the Decadal Survey. The High-contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) testbed aims to implement a system-level hardware demonstration for segmented aperture coronagraphs with wavefront control. The telescope hardware simulator employs a segmented deformable mirror with 37 hexagonal segments that can be controlled in piston, tip, and tilt. In addition, two continuous deformable mirrors are used for high-order wavefront sensing and control. The low-order sensing subsystem includes a dedicated tip-tilt stage, a coronagraphic target acquisition camera, and a Zernike wavefront sensor that is used to measure and correct low-order aberration drifts. We explore the performance of a segmented aperture coronagraph both in “static” operations (limited by natural drifts and instabilities) and in “dynamic” operations (in the presence of artificial wavefront drifts added to the deformable mirrors), and discuss the estimation and control strategies used to reach and maintain the dark-zone contrast using our low-order wavefront sensing and control. We summarize experimental results that quantify the performance of the testbed in terms of contrast, inner/outer working angle and bandpass, and analyze limiting factors.
DOI: 10.1117/12.2630444
Authors: Rémi Soummer, Emiel H. Por, Raphaël Pourcelot, Susan F. Redmond, Iva Laginja, Scott D. Will, Marshall D. Perrin, Laurent Pueyo, Ananya Sahoo, Peter Petrone, Keira J. Brooks, Rachel Fox, Alex Klein, Bryony Nickson, Thomas Comeau, Marc Ferrari, Rob Gontrum, John Hagopian, Lucie Leboulleux, Daniel Leongomez, Joe Lugten, Laurent M. Mugnier, Mamadou N'Diaye, Meiji Nguyen, James Noss, Jean-François Sauvage, Nathan Scott, Anand Sivaramakrishnan, Hari B. Subedi, Sam Weinstock
Institutions: Space Telescope Science Institute, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Princeton University, Observatoire de Paris, Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique, Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, Université Paris-Saclay, Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales, Département Optique et Techniques Associées, Johns Hopkins University, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4293345327