Daren Dillon

On-sky results from REDWOODS, a platform at Lick/ShaneAO for testing second stage AO technologies

Benjamin L. Gerard, Dominic F. Sanchez, Aditya R. Sengupta +11

REDWOODS is a new sub-testbed within the Shane Adaptive Optics (AO) system at Lick observatory, developed to test second stage AO wavefront sensing and control technologies, includ…

Demonstrating the integration of a photonic lantern with an all-fiber-based nulling interferometer

Jordan Diaz, Rebecca Jensen-Clem, Philip M. Hinz +12

High-contrast imaging of Solar System scale exoplanets and protoplanets demands advancements in instrumentation to access deeper starlight suppression at smaller angular separation…

Laboratory characterization of a multi-photonic lantern optical waveguide using off-axis holography

Aditya R. Sengupta, Benjamin L. Gerard, Dominic Sanchez +7

Photonic lanterns (PLs) are waveguides that convert multi-mode input light to single-mode outputs. Wavefront sensing (WFS) and spectroscopy using a PL have been demonstrated, but P…

Experimentally-determined performance limits for joint imaging and wavefront sensing with a photonic lantern

Aditya R. Sengupta, Vincent Chambouleyron, Rebecca Jensen-Clem +16

The photonic lantern (PL) is a focal-plane wavefront sensor (WFS) that can be used for second-stage control of extreme adaptive optics (AO) systems. While the number of sensed mode…

On-sky demonstration of second-stage wavefront control with a photonic lantern

Aditya R. Sengupta, Jordan Diaz, Matthew DeMartino +14

Ground-based direct imaging of exoplanets at high contrast requires precise correction of atmospheric turbulence using adaptive optics (AO). The planet-to-star contrast ratio at sm…

The Santa Cruz Extreme AO Lab (SEAL) 2.0: A reflective, multi-wavelength rebuild

Rebecca Jensen-Clem, Vincent Chambouleyron, Prince Javier +20

The Santa cruz Extreme Adaptive optics Lab (SEAL) is a visible/near-infrared wavelength testbed designed to support technology development for high contrast imaging on large, segme…

Exploring the Capabilities of Astrophotonics for the Precise Alignment of Segmented Telescopes

Maria Cuevas, Aditya R. Sengupta, Vincent Chambouleyron +9

The next generation of large telescopes for direct imaging of exoplanets will require segmented primary mirrors. Over both long and short timescales, these telescopes experience se…

Experimental validation of photonic lantern imaging and wavefront sensing performance

Aditya R. Sengupta, Vincent Chambouleyron, Jordan Diaz +15

Photonic lanterns (PLs) are fiber-based waveguides that are capable of focal-plane wavefront sensing while simultaneously directing light to downstream science instruments. The opt…

Developments on LLNL's high contrast testbed and Lick/ShaneAO

Benjamin L. Gerard, Dominic F. Sanchez, Aditya R. Sengupta +15

LLNL has recently setup a High Contrast Testbed (HCT) for AO and exoplanet imaging technology development. We present the various HCT technologies currently under development, incl…

Reconstruction methods for the phase-shifted Zernike wavefront sensor

Vincent Chambouleyron, Mahawa Cissé, Maïssa Salama +8

The Zernike wavefront sensor (ZWFS) stands out as one of the most sensitive optical systems for measuring the phase of an incoming wavefront, reaching photon efficiencies close to…

Implementation and Characterization of the Vector Vortex Coronagraph on the SEAL Testbed

Ashai Moreno, Vincent Chambouleyron, Rebecca M. Jensen-Clem +3

The Santa Cruz Extreme AO Lab (SEAL) testbed is an optical bench meant to design and develop new wavefront control techniques for high-contrast imaging for segmented telescopes. Th…

Towards understanding interactions between the AO system and segment co-phasing with the vector-Zernike wavefront sensor on Keck

Maïssa Salama, Charlotte Guthery, Vincent Chambouleyron +14

We extend our previous demonstration of the first on-sky primary mirror segment closed-loop control on Keck using a vector-Zernike wavefront sensor (vZWFS), which improved the Stre…