Simulations of the Spectral Resolving Power of a Compact Space-Borne Immersion-Echelle Spectrometer Using Mid-Infrared Wave Tracing

Abstract

We performed wave-optics-based numerical simulations at mid-infrared wavelengths to investigate how the presence or absence of entrance slits and optical aberrations affect the spectral resolving power $R$ of a compact, high-spectral-resolving-power spectrometer containing an immersion-echelle grating. We tested three cases of telescope aberration (aberration-free, astigmatism and spherical aberration), assuming the aberration budget of the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), which has a 20-$\mu \mathrm{m}$-wavelength diffraction limit. In cases with a slit, we found that the value of $R$ at around 10--20 $\mu \mathrm{m}$ is approximately independent of the assumed aberrations, which is significantly different from the prediction of geometrical optics. Our results also indicate that diffraction from the slit improves $R$ by enlarging the effective illuminated area on the grating window and that this improvement decreases at short wavelengths. For the slit-less cases, we found that the impact of aberrations on $R$ can be roughly estimated using the Strehl ratio.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS)

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