scholarly journals MEMS Deformable Mirrors for Space-Based High-Contrast Imaging

Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Morgan ◽  
Ewan S. Douglas ◽  
Gregory W. Allan ◽  
Paul Bierden ◽  
Supriya Chakrabarti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Optical Systems ◽  
Sounding Rocket ◽  
Deformable Mirrors ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Wavefront Control ◽  
High Contrast Imaging

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Deformable Mirrors (DMs) enable precise wavefront control for optical systems. This technology can be used to meet the extreme wavefront control requirements for high contrast imaging of exoplanets with coronagraph instruments. MEMS DM technology is being demonstrated and developed in preparation for future exoplanet high contrast imaging space telescopes, including the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission which supported the development of a 2040 actuator MEMS DM. In this paper, we discuss ground testing results and several projects which demonstrate the operation of MEMS DMs in the space environment. The missions include the Planet Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment (PICTURE) sounding rocket (launched 2011), the Planet Imaging Coronagraphic Technology Using a Reconfigurable Experimental Base (PICTURE-B) sounding rocket (launched 2015), the Planetary Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment - Coronagraph (PICTURE-C) high altitude balloon (expected launch 2019), the High Contrast Imaging Balloon System (HiCIBaS) high altitude balloon (launched 2018), and the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat mission (expected launch late 2019). We summarize results from the previously flown missions and objectives for the missions that are next on the pad. PICTURE had technical difficulties with the sounding rocket telemetry system. PICTURE-B demonstrated functionality at >100 km altitude after the payload experienced 12-g RMS (Vehicle Level 2) test and sounding rocket launch loads. The PICTURE-C balloon aims to demonstrate 10 - 7 contrast using a vector vortex coronagraph, image plane wavefront sensor, and a 952 actuator MEMS DM. The HiClBaS flight experienced a DM cabling issue, but the 37-segment hexagonal piston-tip-tilt DM is operational post-flight. The DeMi mission aims to demonstrate wavefront control to a precision of less than 100 nm RMS in space with a 140 actuator MEMS DM.

High contrast imaging with MEMS deformable mirrors in the Decadal Survey Testbed

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Eldorado Riggs ◽  
Garreth Ruane ◽  
Camilo A. Mejia Prada ◽  
David S. Marx ◽  
Byoung-Joon Seo
Keyword(s):  
Deformable Mirrors ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
High Contrast Imaging

scholarly journals High-Contrast Imaging and Wavefront Control with a PIAA Coronagraph: Laboratory System Validation

2010 ◽  
Vol 122 (887) ◽  
pp. 71-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Guyon ◽  
Eugene Pluzhnik ◽  
Frantz Martinache ◽  
Julien Totems ◽  
Shinichiro Tanaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory System ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Wavefront Control ◽  
System Validation ◽  
High Contrast Imaging

scholarly journals Sparse wavefront control: A new approach to high-contrast imaging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruslan Belikov ◽  
Eduardo A. Bendek ◽  
Dan Sirbu ◽  
Emily Finan ◽  
Thomas Milster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Contrast ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Wavefront Control ◽  
New Approach ◽  
High Contrast Imaging

scholarly journals Comparing focal plane wavefront control techniques: Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A192 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Potier ◽  
P. Baudoz ◽  
R. Galicher ◽  
G. Singh ◽  
A. Boccaletti
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Focal Plane ◽  
Spectral Band ◽  
Wavefront Sensing ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Wavefront Control ◽  
Control Techniques ◽  
High Contrast Imaging ◽  
Plane Wavefront

Context. Fewer than 1% of all exoplanets detected to date have been characterized on the basis of spectroscopic observations of their atmosphere. Unlike indirect methods, high-contrast imaging offers access to atmospheric signatures by separating the light of a faint off-axis source from that of its parent star. Forthcoming space facilities, such as WFIRST/LUVOIR/HabEX, are expected to use coronagraphic instruments capable of imaging and spectroscopy in order to understand the physical properties of remote worlds. The primary technological challenge that drives the design of these instruments involves the precision control of wavefront phase and amplitude errors. To suppress the stellar intensity to acceptable levels, it is necessary to reduce phase aberrations to less than several picometers across the pupil of the telescope. Aims. Several focal plane wavefront sensing and control techniques have been proposed and demonstrated in laboratory to achieve the required accuracy. However, these techniques have never been tested and compared under the same laboratory conditions. This paper compares two of these techniques in a closed loop in visible light: the pair-wise (PW) associated with electric field conjugation (EFC) and self-coherent camera (SCC). Methods. We first ran numerical simulations to optimize PW wavefront sensing and to predict the performance of a coronagraphic instrument with PW associated to EFC wavefront control, assuming modeling errors for both PW and EFC. Then we implemented the techniques on a laboratory testbed. We introduced known aberrations into the system and compared the wavefront sensing using both PW and SCC. The speckle intensity in the coronagraphic image was then minimized using PW+EFC and SCC independently. Results. We demonstrate that both techniques – SCC, based on spatial modulation of the speckle intensity using an empirical model of the instrument, and PW, based on temporal modulation using a synthetic model – can estimate the wavefront errors with the same precision. We also demonstrate that both SCC and PW+EFC can generate a dark hole in space-like conditions in a few iterations. Both techniques reach the current limitation of our laboratory bench and provide coronagraphic contrast levels of ∼5 × 10−9 in a narrow spectral band (< 0.25% bandwidth). Conclusions. Our results indicate that both techniques are mature enough to be implemented in future space telescopes equipped with deformable mirrors for high-contrast imaging of exoplanets.

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