Laboratory Experiment of Checkerboard Pupil Mask Coronagraph

Abstract

We present the results of the first laboratory experiment of checkerboard shaped pupil binary mask coronagraphs using visible light, in the context of the R&D activities for future mid-infrared space missions such as the 3.5 m SPICA telescope. The primary aim of this work is to demonstrate the coronagraphic performance of checkerboard masks down to a $10^{-6}$ peak-to-peak contrast, which is required to detect self-luminous extra-solar planets in the mid-infrared region. Two masks, consisting of aluminum films on a glass substrates, were manufactured using nano-fabrication techniques with electron beam lithography: one mask was optimized for a pupil with a 30% central obstruction and the other was for a pupil without obstruction. The theoretical contrast for both masks was $10^{-7}$ and no adaptive optics system was employed. For both masks, the observed point spread functions were quite consistent with the theoretical ones. The average contrast measured within the dark regions was $2.7\times 10^{-7}$ and $1.1\times 10^{-7}$. The coronagraphic performance significantly outperformed the $10^{-6}$ requirement and almost reached the theoretical limit determined by the mask designs. We discuss the potential application of checkerboard masks for mid-infrared coronagraphy, and conclude that binary masks are promising for future high-contrast space telescopes.

arXiv comment6 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Detection of Planetary Transits Across a Sun-like Star
• Spectra and Diagnostics for the Direct Detection of Wide-Separation Extrasolar Giant Planets
• Rectangular-Mask Coronagraphs for High-Contrast Imaging
• Spiderweb Masks for High-Contrast Imaging

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• SPICA infrared coronagraph for the direct observation of exo-planets
• A Binary Shaped Mask Coronagraph for a Segmented Pupil
• Multi-Color Coronagraph Experiment in a Vacuum Testbed with a Binary Shaped Pupil Mask
• Comparative study of manufacturing techniques for coronagraphic binary pupil masks: masks on substrates and free-standing masks
• Laboratory comparison of coronagraphic concepts under dynamical seeing and high-order adaptive optics correction
• Coronagraphic demonstration experiment using aluminum mirrors for space infrared astronomical observations