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Santa Cruz Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy (SCALES) is an instrument being designed for direct imaging of exoplanets in the mid-infrared with the Adaptive Optics System of the W.M. Keck Observatory. The performance of SCALES will be largely affected by thermal emission from the instrument structures. Placement of a pupil stop can limit the emission of instrument structures such as primary mirror segment gaps, secondary structures, and spider arms. Here we proposed a cold stop design of a circular inner mask paired with a serrated outer mask. Taking into account the pupil nutation, we modeled the throughput and the background emission for the design to optimize the dimensions of the cold stop.

The exploration of circumstellar environments by means of direct imaging to search for Earth-like exoplanets is one of the challenges of modern astronomy. One of the current limitations are evolving non-common path aberrations (NCPA) that originate from optics downstream of the main wavefront sensor. The self-coherent camera (SCC) is an integrated coronagraph and focal-plane wavefront sensor that generates wavefront information-encoding Fizeau fringes in the focal plane by adding a reference hole (RH) in the Lyot stop. Here, we aim to show that by featuring a polarizer in the RH and adding a polarizing beamsplitter downstream of the Lyot stop, the RH can be placed right next to the pupil. We refer to this new variant of the SCC as the polarization-encoded self-coherent camera (PESCC). We study the performance of the PESCC analytically and numerically, and compare it, where relevant, to the SCC. We show analytically that the PESCC relaxes the requirements on the focal-plane sampling and spectral resolution with respect to the SCC by a factor of 2 and 3.5, respectively. Furthermore, we find via our numerical simulations that the PESCC has effectively access to $\sim$16 times more photons, which improves the sensitivity of the wavefront sensing by a factor of $\sim4$. We also show that without additional measurements, the RH point-spread function (PSF) can be calibrated using PESCC images, enabling coherent differential imaging (CDI) as a contrast-enhancing post-processing technique for every observation. In idealized simulations (clear aperture, charge two vortex coronagraph, perfect DM, no noise sources other than phase and amplitude aberrations) and in circumstances similar to those of space-based systems, we show that WFSC combined with CDI can achieve a $1\sigma$ raw contrast of $\sim3\cdot10^{-11}- 8 \cdot 10^{-11}$ between 1 and 18 $\lambda / D$., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Shortened abstract. 17 pages, 21 figures

Modern coronagraph design relies on advanced, large-scale optimization processes that require an ever increasing amount of computational resources. In this paper, we restrict ourselves to the design of Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraphs (APLCs). To produce APLC designs for future giant space telescopes, we require a fine sampling for the apodizer to resolve all small features, such as segment gaps, in the telescope pupil. Additionally, we require the coronagraph to operate in broadband light and be insensitive to small misalignments of the Lyot stop. For future designs we want to include passive suppression of low-order aberrations and finite stellar diameters. The memory requirements for such an optimization would exceed multiple terabytes for the problem matrix alone. We therefore want to reduce the number of variables and constraints to minimize the size of the problem matrix. We show how symmetries in the pupil and Lyot stop are expressed in the complete optimization problem, and allow removal of both variables and constraints. Each mirror symmetry reduces the problem size by a factor of four. Secondly, we introduce progressive refinement, which uses low-resolution optimizations as a prior for higher resolutions. This lets us remove the majority of variables from the high-resolution optimization. Together these two improvements require up to 256x less computer memory, with a corresponding speed increase. This allows for greater exploration of the phase space of the focal-plane mask and Lyot-stop geometry, and easier simulation of sensitivity to Lyot-stop misalignments. Moreover, apodizers can now be optimized at their native manufactured resolution., 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, SPIE Proceedings 11443-165

In high-contrast imaging applications, such as the direct imaging of exoplanets, a coronagraph is used to suppress the light from an on-axis star so that a dimmer, off-axis object can be imaged. To maintain a high-contrast dark region in the image, optical aberrations in the instrument must be minimized. The use of phase-contrast-based Zernike Wavefront Sensors (ZWFS) to measure and correct for aberrations has been studied for large segmented aperture telescopes and ZWFS are planned for the coronagraph instrument on the Roman Space Telescope (RST). ZWFS enable subnanometer wavefront sensing precision, but their response is nonlinear. Lyot-based Low-OrderWavefront Sensors (LLOWFS) are an alternative technique, where light rejected from a coronagraph's Lyot stop is used for linear measurement of small wavefront displacements. Recently, the use of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) to enable phase retrieval from intensity measurements has been demonstrated in several optical configurations. In a LLOWFS system, the use of DNNs rather than linear regression has been shown to greatly extend the sensor's usable dynamic range. In this work, we investigate the use of two different types of machine learning algorithms to extend the dynamic range of the ZWFS. We present static and dynamic deep learning architectures for single- and multi-wavelength measurements, respectively. Using simulated ZWFS intensity measurements, we validate the network training technique and present phase reconstruction results. We show an increase in the capture range of the ZWFS sensor by a factor of 3.4 with a single wavelength and 4.5 with four wavelengths.

Coronagraph is a powerful instrumentation that can be used to realize direct exoplanet imaging. Because the stars are far brighter than the exoplanets, a very high requirement for extinction is raised to obtain a high contrast imaging. By optimizing the transmittance of the entrance pupil and the Lyot stop in Lyot Coronagraph, a sequential optimization procedure is proposed to obtain even higher contrast imaging. In this manuscript, the usually adopted joint optimization in the existing literatures is divided into two steps, which we call the sequential optimization procedure. First, the entrance pupil is optimized for maximum transmission while the contrast constraint is imposed on the focal plane of the lens behind it. Second, the Lyot stop is optimized for maximum transmission with the contrast constraint imposed on the imaging plane. Compared with the joint optimization procedure, the sequential one can provide additional advantages. In terms of performance, under the same conditions, an IWA(Inner working angle) of 1.53λ/D can be obtained while the IWA for joint one is 2.01λ/D. Moreover, the sequential optimization is much faster. Referring to practical applications, the optimum transmittance of Lyot stop in sequential case becomes binary and therefore easy to fabricate. However sequential optimization reduces the throughput approximately 36.81%, which is a drawback that should be compensated.

The NEW EARTH Laboratory (NRC Extreme Wavefront control for Exoplanet Adaptive optics Research Topics at Herzberg) has recently been completed at NRC in Victoria. NEW EARTH is the first Canadian test-bed dedicated to high-contrast imaging. The bench optical design allows a wide range of applications that could require turbulent phase screens, segmented pupils, or custom coronagraphic masks. Super-polished off-axis parabolas are implemented to minimize optical aberrations, in addition to a 468-actuator ALPAO deformable mirror and a Shack Hartmann WFS. The laboratory’s immediate goal is to validate the Fast Atmospheric Self-coherent camera Technique (FAST). The first results of this technique obtained in the NEW EARTH laboratory with a Tilt-Gaussian-Vortex focal plane mask, a reflective Lyot stop and Coherent Differential Imaging are encouraging. Future work will be aimed at expanding this technique to broader wavebands in the context of extremely large telescopes and at visible bands for space-based observatories.

We propose a new approach for high-contrast imaging at the diffraction limit using segmented telescopes in a modest observation bandwidth. This concept, named "spectroscopic fourth-order coronagraphy", is based on a fourth-order coronagraph with a focal-plane mask that modulates the complex amplitude of the Airy disk along one direction. While coronagraphs applying the complex amplitude mask can achieve the theoretical limit performance for any arbitrary pupils, the focal plane mask severely limits the bandwidth. Here, focusing on the fact that the focal-plane mask modulates the complex amplitude along one direction, we noticed that the mask can be optimized for each spectral element generated by a spectrograph. We combine the fourth-order coronagraph with two spectrographs to produce a stellar spectrum on the focal plane and reconstruct a white pupil on the Lyot stop. Based on the wavefront analysis of an optical design applying an Offner-type imaging spectrograph, we found that the achievable contrast of this concept is 10^{-10} at 1.2 - 1.5 times the diffraction limit over the wavelength range of 650 - 750 nm for the entrance pupil of the LUVOIR telescope. Thus, this coronagraph concept could bring new habitable planet candidates not only around G- and K-type stars beyond 20 - 30 pc but also around very nearby M-type stars. This approach potentially promotes the characterization of the atmospheres of nearby terrestrial planets with future on- and off-axis segmented large telescopes., 26 Pages, 12 Figures, Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

We propose a coronagraphic system with fourth-order null for off-axis segmented telescopes, which is sufficiently insensitive to the telescope pointing errors and finite angular diameter of the host star to enable high-contrast imaging of potentially habitable planets. The inner working angle of the coronagraphic system is close to $1\lambda/D$, and there is no outer limit. The proposed coronagraphic system is made up of a new focal plane mask and an optimized Lyot stop with the second-order null. The new focal plane mask is an extension of the band-limited masks with a phase modulation. We construct a coronagraphic system with fourth-order null by placing two of the new coronagraph systems in succession to be orthogonal to each other. The proposed system is limited to narrow-band usage. The characteristics of the proposed coronagraph system are derived analytically, which includes: (1)the leak of stellar lights due to finite stellar diameter and pointing jitter of a telescope, and (2)the peak throughput. We achieve the performance simulations of this coronagraphic system based on these analytical expressions, considering a monochromatic light of 0.75$\mathrm{\mu}$m and off-axis primary mirror with a diameter of 8.5m. Thanks to the wide working area of the mask, the result shows that terrestrial planets orbiting K and G-dwarfs can be detected under the condition that the telescope pointing jitter is less than $0.01\lambda/D\approx240$as. The proposed coronagraphic system is promising for detection of potentially habitable planets with future space off-axis hexagonally segmented telescopes., Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astronomical Journal

TolTEC is an imaging polarimeter that will be mounted on the 50m diameter Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) in Mexico. This camera simultaneously images the focal plane at three wavebands centered at 1.1, 1.4, and 2.0mm. TolTEC combines polarization-sensitive Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) with the LMT to produce 5-10 arcmin resolution maps of the sky in both total intensity and polarization. The light from the telescope is coupled to the TolTEC instrument using three room temperature mirrors. Before entering the cryostat, the light passes through a rapid-spinning achromatic half-wave plate, and once inside it passes through a 1 K Lyot stop that controls the telescope illumination. Inside the cryostat, a series of aluminum mirrors, silicon lenses, and dichroic filters split the light into three wavelength bands and direct each band to a different detector array. We will describe the design, and performance of the optics before installation at the telescope.

We are developing an innovative compact coronagraph for studying the physical conditions in the solar wind acceleration region. This paper presents the new development of the compact coronagraph for the investigation of temperature and speed of electrons in the solar corona. The proposed compact coronagraph is a one stage externally occulted coronagraph without internal occulter or Lyot stop mask. The key of the new idea is to set the inner field cutoff at the External Occulter (EO) much smaller than the specified inner field cutoff. A second occulter on the surface of the detector array removes the remaining diffraction. The occulter on the detector surface functions similar to an internal occulter with the Inner Field of View Cutoff (IFoVC) exactly the same as specified. For BITSE, the desired inner field cutoff is 3 R, but the cutoff at EO is only 1.5 R☉. The diffraction analysis shows that in the sensor plane, the diffraction intensity at the 3 R☉ is not sensitive to the EO cutoff, either at 1.5 R☉ or close to 3 R☉. The advantage of having a smaller EO cutoff is that the vignetting decreased for the Field of View (FoV) near 3 R☉, therefore, the signal increases. Meanwhile, the diffraction of Point Spread Function is much less in the radial direction, which not only increases the image quality around 3 R☉, but also increases the encircled energy and signal to noise ratio. In other words, the data is useful right at 3 R☉! The BITSE optical design and diffraction analysis will be presented in detail. The simulation shows the signal to noise ratio obtained from the diffraction and vignetting data enables corona temperature and speed measurement.

Context. Direct detection of exoplanets requires imaging in a highly dynamic range and exquisite image quality and stability. Wavefront error (atmospheric errors, manufacturing errors on optics, cophasing residuals, temperature variations, etc.) will limit the efficiency of this endeavor by creating various flavors of speckles that evolve with different timescales. Active wavefront-error correction using a deformable mirror requires measuring the wavefront aberrations in the science image with high accuracy and in a shorter time than the duration of the dominant speckle lifetime. Aims. The self-coherent camera (SCC) is a focal plane wavefront sensor exploiting the coherence of light to generate Fizeau fringes in the image plane to spatially encode speckles. The SCC combines a coronagraph and a modified Lyot stop to which a reference channel is added. The conventional SCC is restricted to long-exposure measurements because the light transmitted through the reference channel is limited. The SCC can correct quasi-static aberrations but precludes short-lived atmospheric aberrations from the measurement. Methods. I propose an alternative to the conventional SCC that I call the fast-modulated SCC. It uses a simplified Lyot stop design and an adequate Fourier filtering algorithm. The theory is established and confirmed by means of numerical simulations. Results. The SCC theory dictates that the separation between the classical Lyot stop and the reference channel must be larger than 1.5 times the Lyot stop diameter. The fast-modulated SCC allows for the reference channel to be placed anywhere, in particular in the vicinity of the pupil where the maximum of diffracted light is found. This alternative represents a complete game changer for the sensor: full compatibility with any type of coronagraph, easy installation in existing instruments, and versatility by accessing short- and long-time exposure measurements. Conclusions. While the conventional SCC can almost not be implemented in existing instruments because the optical beam footprint in the instrument must be wide enough to illuminate the reference channel, which is often seen as a significant shortcoming, the fast-modulated SCC does not require any constraint on this. The fast-modulated SCC also relaxes the high sampling requirement to resolve the fringes, which is usually incompatible with the observation of fainter targets because the fringes are larger. The fast-modulated SCC simultaneously counteracts the two original shortcomings of the SCC concept.

A new design for thermal-infrared radiation thermometer and sensors is described. Critical optical elements, such as the field stop, Lyot stop, collimating lens, and detector, are placed inside a thermally stabilized assembly that is controlled using thermo-electric coolers and thermistors. The assembled radiation thermometer is calibrated using both variable-temperature fluid-bath and heat-pipe blackbodies from -45 °C to 75 °C and the use of a modified-Planck function and these blackbodies. The size-of-source effect both with and without the Lyot stop has been measured. This new design, during operations without the need for cryogenic cooling, demonstrates sub millikelvin temperature measurement resolution with few millikelvin, week-long stable operations while measuring room-temperature objects.

While an ideal optical vortex coronagraph operating behind a clear, circular, unaberrated telescope aperture can theoretically provide perfect rejection of the incident plane wave from an unresolved star, use of a telescope with an on-axis secondary mirror limits the rejection. In theory, a dual-stage vortex coronagraph can provide improved starlight rejection for an on-axis telescope, and here we provide experimental confirmation of the predicted distribution of the residual light in the output pupil plane of a dual-stage vortex coronagraph. In addition, a simple method of further improving the rejection of such a coronagraph is suggested: by slightly oversizing the first Lyot stop and phase-shifting the light within the exposed annulus by half a wave, the residual starlight within the pupil can be canceled to deeper levels.

The Lyot coronagraph is a widely known astronomical instrument used to realize direct imaging of exoplanets, and designing transmittance of an apodizer and Lyot stop is the key to obtaining high-contrast imaging. In this paper a new (to the best of our knowledge) optimization procedure used to design the apodizer and Lyot stop in the Lyot coronagraph is proposed. A two-step optimization program is established to obtain the optimum transmittance of an apodizer and Lyot stop in a sequential way. By using the optimized apodizer and Lyot stop obtained through the proposed optimization procedure, both the stellar light and its diffraction light could be strongly suppressed. Numerical results indicate that such an optimized Lyot coronagraph can produce a 1e-10 extinction of the stellar light near the diffraction limit ( 1.59 λ / D ), and a high contrast imaging of 1e-07 could still be obtained even with the influence of light intensity of planets themselves. In addition, the two-step optimization procedure brings in two benefits. First, the two-step optimization is approximately 1000 times faster than the joint optimization method [J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst. 2, 011012 (2016)2329-412410.1117/1.JATIS.2.1.011012]. Second, the optimum transmittance of the Lyot stop is binary, and therefore, the requirements of the production process are reduced, resulting in a greatly reduced cost. At the same time, the performance of the optimized Lyot coronagraph is also analyzed in the case of a monochromatic light incident and bandwidth light incident, and the effect of the diameter of the Lyot stop on the results is also discussed in this paper, which makes sense when designing a coronagraph.

Exoplanet imaging and spectroscopy are now routinely achieved by dedicated instruments on large ground-based observatories (e.g. Gemini/GPI, VLT/SPHERE, or Subaru/SCExAO). In addition to extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) and post-processing methods, these facilities make use of the most advanced coronagraphs to suppress light of an observed star and enable the observation of circumstellar environments. The Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) is one of the leading coronagraphic baseline in the current generation of instruments. This concept combines a pupil apodization, an opaque focal plane mask (FPM), and a Lyot stop. APLC can be optimized for a range of applications and designs exist for on-axis segmented aperture telescopes at $10^{10}$ contrast in broadband light. In this communication, we propose novel designs to push the limits of this concept further by modifying the nature of the FPM from its standard opaque mask to a smaller size occulting spot surrounded by circular phase shifting zones. We present the formalism of this new concept which solutions find two possible applications: 1) upgrades for the current generation of ExAO coronagraphs since these solutions remain compatible with the existing designs and will provide better inner working angle, contrast and throughput, and 2) coronagraphy at $10^{10}$ contrast for future flagship missions such as LUVOIR, with the goal to increase the throughput of the existing designs for the observation of Earth-like planets around nearby stars., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

Combining active pupil correction via deformable mirrors (DMs) with coronagraphs such as the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) provides a powerful tool for creating high contrast dark holes with obstructed pupils featuring central obstructions, spiders, and gaps. We investigate optimal combinations of DM pupil remapping via Active Compensation of Aperture Discontinuities- Optimized Stroke Minimization (ACAD-OSM) and binary mask pupil apodization to obtain dark holes with contrasts of 1010 for the APLC. We examine the space of possible configurations for an APLC apodized with a circularly symmetric pupil mask and a pair of DMs using a modified MCMC algorithm that allows us to probe previously unexamined combinations of pupil apodization, focal plane mask size, and Lyot stop size. We find designs with ~ 20% encircled energy throughput for a focal plane mask radius of 4.5λ/D and a bandwidth of 20%, as well as for a focal plane mask radius of 3.18 λ/D and a bandwidth of 10%. We also find solutions for focal plane mask radii of 2 λ/D and 20% bandwidths that can obtain encircled energy throughputs of up to ~ 4%. Our strategy of combining circularly symmetric binary masks with DMs to create dark holes with obstructed pupils can be expanded to optimize the APLC for terrestrial exoplanet yield, and we conclude by exploring the possibility of optimizing coronagraphs using a simple parametric expression for yield.

The objective of the Evanescent Wave Coronagraph (EvWaCo) project is to develop a new kind of simple and cost effective coronagraph, first for ground-based telescopes and then for space-based telescopes. The principle involves the tunneling effect to separate the star light from the companion light. The star light is directed transmitted toward a WaveFront Sensor (WFS) that measures the wavefront distortions in the immediate proximity of the occulting mask with minimum non-common path errors. The beam reflected by the mask propagates toward the Lyot stop and forms the images of the companion and of the star residuals on the camera. The EvWaCo concept has been demonstrated and this instrument is achromatic over the I-band of the Johnson- Cousins photometric system in unpolarized light. We have measured over this photometric band an Inner Working Angle (IWA) equal to 6 λ/D and contrasts of a few 10 -6 at distances greater than 10 Airy radii from the star Point Spread Function (PSF) center. This paper describes the continuation of the project, from this setup of demonstration to the first prototype operating on the sky at horizon 2020. The objective is to show the capability of the full system to provide IWA and raw contrasts close to the state-of-art performance with the Thai National Telescope, by observing through an unobstructed elliptical pupil of major axis length equal to 1 m. The system will demonstrate over the full I-band an IWA close to 3 λ/D and raw contrasts equal to a few 10 -4 at a distance equal to the IWA from the PSF.

Imaging Earth-like exoplanets with future space telescopes will require a coronagraph instrument that is capable of creating a dark zone in the starlight at the image plane that is ten orders of magnitude fainter than the off-axis image of the host star. What is more, the coronagraph must simultaneously provide a stable dark zone and high throughput over the angular separations that correspond to habitable zones around nearby Sun-like stars (~10-100 milliarcseconds). Since the pupils of most large-aperture space telescope architectures are likely to be obstructed by secondary mirrors, spider support structures, and gaps between mirror segments, the coronagraph optics must also be specially tailored to passively suppress starlight diffracted from the obstructions and discontinuities in the telescope pupil. Here, we demonstrate an apodized vortex coronagraph optimized for an off-axis segmented telescope on the new High Contrast Spectroscopy Testbed for Segmented Telescopes (HCST) at Caltech. The coronagraph consists of a microdot apodizer, a liquid crystal vortex phase mask in the focal plane, and a Lyot stop. The microdot apodizer is an AR-coated glass window with 10um gold microdots to be used in reflection around lambda=800nm. We describe the HCST optical system; the apodizer optimization, fabrication, and metrology procedures; and present end-to-end testbed results of the coronagraph coupled with a 32x32 Boston Micromachines deformable mirror for wavefront control. We aim to achieve a dark zone 10^-7 times fainter than the simulated host star over a wavelength range of 800±40nm in Spring 2018. Finally, we will outline future plans to demonstrate coronagraph concepts for centrally obscured telescopes.

By adding a dedicated coronagraph, ESO in collaboration with the Breakthrough Initiatives, modifies the Very Large Telescope mid-IR imager (VISIR) to further boost the high dynamic range imaging capability this instru- ment has. After the VISIR upgrade in 2012, where coronagraphic masks were first added to VISIR, it became evident that coronagraphy at a ground-based 8m-class telescope critically needs adaptive optics, even at wavelengths as long as 10μm. For VISIR, a work-horse observatory facility instrument in normal operations, this is ”easiest” achieved by bringing VISIR as a visiting instrument to the ESO-VLT-UT4 having an adaptive M2. This “visit” enables a meaningful search for Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around both α-Cen1,2. Meaningful here means, achieving a contrast of ≈ 10^(-6) within ≈ 0.8arcsec from the star while maintaining basically the normal sensitivity of VISIR. This should allow to detect a planet twice the diameter of Earth. Key components will be a diffractive coronagraphic mask, the annular groove phase mask (AGPM), optimized for the most sensitive spectral band-pass in the N-band, complemented by a sophisticated apodizer at the level of the Lyot stop. For VISIR noise filtering based on fast chopping is required. A novel internal chopper system will be integrated into the cryostat. This chopper is based on the standard technique from early radio astronomy, conceived by the microwave pioneer Robert Dicke in 1946, which was instrumental for the discovery of the 3K radio background.

A long wave infrared imaging system operated for space exploration of faint target is highly sensitive to stray radiation. We present an integrative suppression process of internal and external stray radiation. A compact and re-imaging LWIR catadioptric telescope is designed as practical example and internal and external stray radiation is analyzed for this telescope. The detector is cryogenically cooled with 100% cold shield efficiency of Lyot stop. A non-sequential ray tracing technique is applied to investigate how the stray radiation propagates inside optical system. The simulation and optimization during initial design stage are proceeded to avoid subversive defect that the stray radiation disturbs the target single. The quantitative analysis of stray radiation irradiance emitted by lenses and structures inside is presented in detail. The optical elements, which operate at room-temperature due to the limitation of weight and size, turn to be the significant stray radiation sources. We propose a method combined infrared material selection and optical form optimization to reduce the internal stray radiation of lens. We design and optimize mechanical structures to achieve a further attenuation of internal stray radiation power. The point source transmittance (PST) is calculated to assess the external radiation which comes from the source out of view field. The ghost of bright target due to residual reflection of optical coatings is simulated. The results show that the performance of stray radiation suppression is dramatically improved by iterative optimization and modification of optomechanical configurations.

The High Contrast Spectroscopy Testbed for Segmented Telescopes (HCST) at Caltech is aimed at filling gaps in technology for future exoplanet imagers and providing the U.S. community with an academic facility to test components and techniques for high contrast imaging with future segmented ground-based telescope (TMT, E-ELT) and space-based telescopes (HabEx, LUVOIR). The HCST will be able to simulate segmented telescope geometries up to 1021 hexagonal segments and time-varying external wavefront disturbances. It also contains a wavefront corrector module based on two deformable mirrors followed by a classical 3-plane single-stage corona- graph (entrance apodizer, focal-plane mask, Lyot stop) and a science instrument. The back-end instrument will consist of an imaging detector and a high-resolution spectrograph, which is a unique feature of the HCST. The spectrograph instrument will utilize spectral information to characterize simulated planets at the photon-noise limit, measure the chromaticity of new optimized coronagraph and wavefront control concepts, and test the overall scientific functions of high-resolution spectrographs on future segmented telescopes.

The POLARBEAR-2/Simons Array Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization experiment is an upgrade and expansion of the existing POLARBEAR-1 (PB-1) experiment, located in the Atacama desert in Chile. Along with the CMB temperature and $E$-mode polarization anisotropies, PB-1 and the Simons Array study the CMB $B$-mode polarization anisotropies produced at large angular scales by inflationary gravitational waves, and at small angular scales by gravitational lensing. These measurements provide constraints on various cosmological and particle physics parameters, such as the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, and the sum of the neutrino masses. The Simons Array consists of three 3.5 m diameter telescopes with upgraded POLARBEAR-2 (PB-2) cryogenic receivers, named PB-2a, -2b, and -2c. PB-2a and -2b will observe the CMB over multiple bands centered at 95 GHz and 150 GHz, while PB-2c will observe at 220 GHz and 270 GHz, which will enable enhanced foreground separation and de-lensing. Each Simons Array receiver consists of two cryostats which share the same vacuum space: an optics tube containing the cold reimaging lenses and Lyot stop, infrared-blocking filters, and cryogenic half-wave plate; and a backend which contains the focal plane detector array, cold readout components, and millikelvin refrigerator. Each PB-2 focal plane array is comprised of 7,588 dual-polarization, multi-chroic, lenslet- and antenna-coupled, Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers which are cooled to 250 mK and read out using Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) through a digital frequency division multiplexing scheme with a multiplexing factor of 40. In this work we describe progress towards commissioning the PB-2b and -2c receivers including cryogenic design, characterization, and performance of both the PB-2b and -2c backend cryostats., Comment: 20 pages

Detecting faint companions in close proximity to stars is one of the major goals of current/planned ground- and space-based high-contrast imaging instruments. High-performance coronagraphs can suppress the diffraction features and gain access to companions at small angular separation. However, the uncontrolled pointing errors degrade the coronagraphic performance by leaking starlight around the coronagraphic focal-plane mask, preventing the detection of companions at small separations. A Lyot-stop low-order wavefront sensor (LLOWFS) was therefore introduced to calibrate and measure these aberrations for focal-plane phase mask coronagraphs. This sensor quantifies the variations in wavefront error decomposed into a few Zernike modes by reimaging the diffracted starlight rejected by a reflective Lyot stop. The technique was tested with several coronagraphs on the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system at the Subaru Telescope. The wavefront was decomposed into 15 and 35 Zernike modes with an occulting and focal-plane phase mask coronagraph, respectively, which were used to drive a closed-loop correction in the laboratory. Using a 2000-actuator deformable mirror, a closed-loop pointing stability between 10−3–10^(−4) λ/D was achieved in the laboratory in H-band, with sub nanometer residuals for the other Zernike modes (Noll index >4). On-sky, the low-order control of 10+ Zernike modes for the phase-induced amplitude apodization and the vector vortex coronagraphs was demonstrated, with a closed-loop pointing stability of 10^(-4) λ /D under good seeing and 10^(-3) λ/D under moderate seeing conditions readily achievable.

The Planetary Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment - Coronagraph (PICTURE-C) mission will directly image debris disks and exozodiacal dust around nearby stars from a high-altitude balloon using a vector vortex coronagraph. The PICTURE-C low-order wavefront control (LOWC) system will be used to correct time-varying low-order aberrations due to pointing jitter, gravity sag, thermal deformation, and the gondola pendulum motion. We present the hardware and software implementation of the low-order ShackHartmann and reflective Lyot stop sensors. Development of the high-speed image acquisition and processing system is discussed with the emphasis on the reduction of hardware and computational latencies through the use of a real-time operating system and optimized data handling. By characterizing all of the LOWC latencies, we describe techniques to achieve a framerate of 200 Hz with a mean latency of ∼378 μs

With the recent commissioning of ground instruments such as SPHERE or GPI and future space observatories like WFIRST-AFTA, coronagraphy should probably become the most efficient tool for identifying and characterizing extra-solar planets in the forthcoming years. Coronagraphic instruments such as Phase mask coronagraphs (PMC) are usually based on a phase mask or plate located at the telescope focal plane, spreading the starlight outside the diameter of a Lyot stop that blocks it. In this communication is investigated the capability of a PMC to act as a phase-shifting wavefront sensor for better control of the achieved star extinction ratio in presence of the coronagraphic mask. We discuss the two main implementations of the phase-shifting process, either introducing phase-shifts in a pupil plane and sensing intensity variations in an image plane, or reciprocally. Conceptual optical designs are described in both cases. Numerical simulations allow for better understanding of the performance and limitations of both options, and optimizing their fundamental parameters. In particular, they demonstrate that the phase-shifting process is a bit more efficient when implemented into an image plane, and is compatible with the most popular phase masks currently employed, i.e. four-quadrants and vortex phase masks., 22 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables

We show that the use of apodizing functions at the coronagraph Lyot plane may be useful for improving the image contrast of ground-based coronagraphs. An experimental set-up consisting of a tip–tilt mirror, a coronagraph and a low-noiseEMCCDcamerawas implemented at theWilliam Herschel Telescope. Images were taken in the I band, which meant that the D/r0 value was around 10. Experimental results confirm that, for moderately aberrated wavefronts, our instrument works as theoretically expected, and that the contrast value attained is high enough to provide direct detection of faint companions. This research was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under project FIS2012-31079 and the Fundación Séneca of Murcia under projects 15419/PI/10 and 15345/PI/10.

Optical coronagraphy is a high contrast image technique used in astronomy to reduce light around a host star and make viable the detection of faint companions and the exploration of circumstellar disks. Digital coronagraphy consists of the digital processing of non-coronagraphic images acquired by space telescopes in order to reproduce the operation of a standard optical coronagraph. Digital coronagraphy presents significant advantages as no real coronagraph or extra device has to be manufactured and sent to space. In this paper, comparison of digital and optical coronagraph performances is accomplished both by numerical simulations that include detection noise and the use of archived images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Our analysis indicates that the attainable contrast with both techniques is comparable, though the required Lyot stop in digital coronagraphy differs from the standard one. Furthermore, the evolution of contrast as a function of the distance to the main star that we have encountered with the optical coronagraph is similar to that shown by different authors for the optical NIC2/COR coronagraph. Finally, although digital coronagraphy cannot substitute optical coronagraphs, it can be considered as an interesting tool for the analysis of actual system performance.

Context. The solar coronagraph ASPIICS will fly on the future ESA formation flying mission Proba-3. The instrument combines an external occulter of diameter 1.42 m and a Lyot solar coronagraph of 5 cm diameter, located downstream at a distance of 144 m. Aims. The theoretical performance of the externally occulted Lyot coronagraph has been computed by assuming perfect optics. In this paper, we improve related modelling by introducing roughness scattering effects from the telescope. We have computed the diffraction at the detector, that we compare to the ideal case without perturbation to estimate the performance degradation. We have also investigated the influence of sizing the internal occulter and the Lyot stop, and we performed a sensitivity analysis on the roughness. Methods. We have built on a recently published numerical model of diffraction propagation. The micro-structures of the telescope are built by filtering a white noise with a power spectral density following an isotropic ABC function, suggested by Harvey scatter theory. The parameters were tuned to fit experimental data measured on ASPIICS lenses. The computed wave front error was included in the Fresnel wave propagation of the coronagraph. A circular integration over the solar disk was performed to reconstruct the complete diffraction intensity. Results. The level of micro-roughness is 1.92 nm root-mean-square. Compared to the ideal case, in the plane of the internal occulter, the diffraction peak intensity is reduced by ≃0.001%. However, the intensity outside the peak increases by 12% on average, up to 20% at 3 R⊙, where the mask does not filter out the diffraction. At detector level, the diffraction peak remains ≃10−6 at 1.1 R⊙, similar to the ideal case, but the diffraction tail at large solar radius is much higher, up to one order of magnitude. Sizing the internal occulter and the Lyot stop does not improve the rejection, as opposed to the ideal case. Conclusions. Besides these results, this paper provides a methodology to implement roughness scattering in the wave propagation model for the solar coronagraph.

A vortex coronagraph is now available for high contrast observations with the Keck/NIRC2 instrument at L band. Reaching the optimal performance of the coronagraph requires fine control of the wavefront incident on the phase mask. In particular, centering errors can lead to significant stellar light leakage that degrades the contrast performance and prevents the observation of faint planetary companions around the observed stars. It is thus critical to correct for the possible slow drift of the star image from the phase mask center, generally due to mechanical flexures induced by temperature and/or gravity field variation, or to misalignment between the optics that rotate in pupil tracking mode. A control loop based on the QACITS algorithm for the vortex coronagraph has thus been developed and deployed for the Keck/NIRC2 instrument. This algorithm executes the entire observing sequence, including the calibration steps, initial centering of the star on the vortex center and stabilisation during the acquisition of science frames. On-sky data show that the QACITS control loop stabilizes the position of the star image down to 2.4 mas rms at a frequency of about 0.02 Hz. However, the accuracy of the estimator is probably limited by a systematic error due to a misalignment of the Lyot stop with respect to the entrance pupil, estimated to be on the order of 4.5 mas. A method to reduce the amplitude of this bias down to 1 mas is proposed. The QACITS control loop has been successfully implemented and provides a robust method to center and stabilize the star image on the vortex mask. In addition, QACITS ensures a repeatable pointing quality and significantly improves the observing efficiency compared to manual operations. It is now routinely used for vortex coronagraph observations at Keck/NIRC2, providing contrast and angular resolution capabilities suited for exoplanet and disk imaging., 9 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

Direct imaging of exoplanets requires the detection of very faint objects orbiting close to very bright stars. In this context, the SPICES mission was proposed to the European Space Agency for planet characterization at visible wavelength. SPICES is a 1.5m space telescope which uses a coronagraph to strongly attenuate the central source. However, small optical aberrations, which appear even in space telescopes, dramatically decrease coronagraph performance. To reduce these aberrations, we want to estimate, directly on the coronagraphic image, the electric field, and, with the help of a deformable mirror, correct the wavefront upstream of the coronagraph. We propose an instrument, the Self-Coherent Camera (SCC) for this purpose. By adding a small "reference hole" into the Lyot stop, located after the coronagraph, we can produce interferences in the focal plane, using the coherence of the stellar light. We developed algorithms to decode the information contained in these Fizeau fringes and retrieve an estimation of the field in the focal plane. After briefly recalling the SCC principle, we will present the results of a study, based on both experiment and numerical simulation, analyzing the impact of the size of the reference hole., Comment: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8442, article id. 844250, 10 pp. (2012)

This article describes the mounting system of lenses in a coronagraph ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun). ASPIICS is developed and produced in cooperation of twenty partners from seven countries. It is a part of the ESA's PROBA-3 mission, which includes a formation flight of a pair of satellites at orbit. Coronagraph itself consists of three objectives, where the last one is composed by one objective tube for each lens plus holder and Lyot stop. To achieve high accuracy of mounting of the individual lenses, it was necessary to achieve tight geometric and dimensional tolerances for manufacturing of the objectives barrels. In order to minimize the stress and to prevent the displacement of the lens from ideal position during a temperature change on orbit, an athermal solution was proposed. This is achieved by inserting a Teflon ring of a suitable thickness between the lens surface, objective barrel and the spring washer with a precisely defined contact force. It was necessary to find a suitable technological process of manufacturing, because of the specific behavior of PTFE during turning and complex design of other parts. All parameters of mounting system were repeatedly verified by a thermomechanical analysis in FEM software, based on tests of real parts.

Recent efforts combining the optimization techniques of apodized pupil Lyot coronagraphs (APLC) and shaped pupils have demonstrated the viability of a binary-transmission mask architecture for extremely high contrast (10-10) exoplanet imaging. We are now building on those innovations to carry out a survey of Lyot coronagraph performance for large, segmented telescope apertures. These apertures are of the same kind under considera- tion for NASA's Large UV/Optical/IR (LUVOIR) observatory concept. To map the multi-dimensional design parameter space, we have developed a software toolkit to manage large sets of mask optimization programs and execute them on a computing cluster. Here we summarize a preliminary survey of 500 APLC solutions for 4 reference hexagonal telescope apertures. Several promising designs produce annular, 10-10 contrast dark zones down to inner working angle 4λ0=D over a 15% bandpass, while delivering a half-max PSF core throughput of 18%. We also report our progress on devising solutions to the challenges of Lyot stop alignment/fabrication tolerance that arise in this contrast regime.

Coronagraphy is a very efficient technique for identifying and characterizing extra-solar planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent star, especially when used in a space environment. An important family of coronagraphs is based on phase plates located at an intermediate image plane of the optical system, that spread the starlight outside the "Lyot" exit pupil plane of the instrument. In this communication we present a set of candidate phase functions generating a central null at the Lyot plane, and study how it propagates to the image plane of the coronagraph. These functions include linear azimuthal phase ramps (the well-known optical vortex), azimuthally cosine-modulated phase profiles, and circular phase gratings. Numerical simulations of the expected null depth, inner working angle, sensitivity to pointing errors, effect of central obscuration located at the pupil or image planes, and effective throughput including image mask and Lyot stop transmissions are presented and discussed. The preliminary conclusion is that azimuthal cosine functions appear as an interesting alternative to the classical optical vortex of integer topological charge., Comment: 12 pages

International audience; The VLT/SPHERE instrument includes a unique long-slit spectroscopy (LSS) mode coupled with Lyot coronagraphy dedicated to the spectral characterization of directly imaged giant exoplanets. The performance of this mode is limited by its non-optimal coronagraph, but in a previous work we demonstrated that it could be significantly improved at small inner-working angles using the stop-less Lyot coronagraph (SLLC). A prototype of the SLLC was installed in VLT/SPHERE in 2014 during the reintegration of the instrument in Paranal, and it was extensively tested in 2015 to characterize its performance. The performance is tested in both imaging and spectroscopy using data acquired on the internal source of SPHERE. In imaging, we obtain a raw contrast gain of a factor 10 at 0.3" with the SLLC. We also demonstrate that no Lyot stop is required to reach the full performance, which validates the SLLC concept. Comparison with a realistic simulation model shows that we are currently limited by the internal phase aberrations of SPHERE. In spectroscopy, we obtain a gain of 1 mag in a limited range of angular separations. Simulations show that although the main limitation comes from phase errors, the performance in the non-SLLC case is very close to the ultimate limit of the LSS mode. We present the very first on-sky data with the SLLC, which appear extremely promising for the future scientific exploitation of an apodized LSS mode in SPHERE. Finally, we explore a new possibility for the speckle subtraction in the LSS mode that could significantly improve the data analysis with respect to methods based on spectral differences.

SPHERE (which stands for Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch) is a second-generation Very Large Telescope (VLT) instrument dedicated to high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets whose first-light is scheduled for 2011. Within this complex instrument one of the central components is the apodized Lyot coronagraph (ALC). The principal aim of this paper is to report the first laboratory experiment of the ALC designed for the SPHERE instrument. The performance and sensitivity of the optical configuration was first numerically studied with an end-to-end approach (see the results in paper I subtitled “Detailed numerical study”). Made confident by the results, we then tested a prototype on an infrared coronagraphic bench. We measured the transmission profiles of the apodizer prototype and the coronagraphic performance of the apodized Lyot coronagraph in Y, J, and H bands. The coronagraph sensitivity to lateral and longitudinal misalignments of its three main components (apodizer, coronagraphic mask and Lyot stop) was finally studied in H band. We can conclude that the prototype meets the SPHERE technical requirements for coronagraphy.

We describe a coronagraph approach where the performance of a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph is improved by using a partially transmissive phase-shifting focal plane mask and a Lyot stop. This approach combines the low inner working angle offered by phase mask coronagraphy, the full throughput and uncompromized angular resolution of the PIAA approach, and the design flexibility of Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph. A PIAA complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC) is fully described by the focal plane mask size, or, equivalently, its complex transmission which ranges from 0 (opaque) to -1 (phase shifting). For all values of the transmission, the PIAACMC theoretically offers full on-axis extinction and 100% throughput at large angular separations. With a pure phase focal plane mask (complex transmission = -1), the PIAACMC offers 50% throughput at 0.64 {lambda}/D while providing total extinction of an on-axis point source. This performance is very close to the 'fundamental performance limit' of coronagraphy derived from first principles. For very high contrast level, imaging performance with PIAACMC is in practice limited by the angular size of the on-axis target (usually a star). We show that this fundamental limitation must be taken into account when choosing the optimal value of the focal planemore » mask size in the PIAACMC design. We show that the PIAACMC enables visible imaging of Jupiter-like planets at {approx}1.2 {lambda}/D from the host star, and can therefore offer almost three times more targets than a PIAA coronagraph optimized for this type of observation. We find that for visible imaging of Earth-like planets, the PIAACMC gain over a PIAA is probably much smaller, as coronagraphic performance is then strongly constrained by stellar angular size. For observations at 'low' contrast (below {approx} 10{sup 8}), the PIAACMC offers significant performance enhancement over PIAA. This is especially relevant for ground-based high contrast imaging systems in the near-IR, where PIAACMC enables high contrast high efficiency imaging within 1 {lambda}/D. Manufacturing tolerances for the focal plane mask are quantified for a few representative PIAACMC designs.« less

This paper gives analytical expressions of the intensity in a Lyot coronagraph when the object is a resolved uniform disk. Intensities are given inside the Lyot stop and in the final plane. The derivation relies on the decomposition of the impinging waves on Zernike functions which allows the computation of the expansion of the intensities on infinite series. The expression in the final plane assumes that the sizes of the Lyot stop and the pupil are the same. An analysis of the truncation error is provided. These expressions are validated by computer simulations which makes it possible to recover known results such as the so-called diffraction ring observed by solar astronomers inside the Lyot stop. These analytical results and simulations bring deeper insight into the understanding of a Lyot coronagraph, for example, the fact that although the geometrical image of the source is behind the mask, a ghost image of the source can still be observed in the final plane.

The Fan Mountain Near-Infrared Camera (FanCam) provides the University of Virginia’s 31 inch telescope with a near-infrared observing capability that is relatively unique among small-aperture telescopes. FanCam features an 8.7′ × 8.7′8.7′×8.7′ field of view on a 1024 × 10241024×1024 Teledyne Imaging Sensors HAWAII-1 detector array. The instrument mounts at the f/15.5 focus of the 31 inch telescope. Its seeing-limited optical design, optimized for the JHKJHK atmospheric bands, includes a field stop at the telescope focus, a doublet collimator, two eight-position filterwheels straddling a Lyot stop, and a doublet reimager. Four fold mirrors wrap the optical path onto a compact optical bench. The 0.51″pixel-1 plate scale leads to a slightly oversampled point spread function for the typical seeing of 1.5″. The entire optical train is encased in a cryogenic dewar cooled by a closed-loop cooling system. This paper describes the optical, mechanical, cryogenic, and electronic design of the camera as well...

Aims. We report results obtained with a four-quadrant and an eight-octant phase-mask coronagraphs (4QC and 8OC) produced using amplitude masks inside a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). We describe the laboratory implementation of these coronagraphs operated in laser light and provide a detailed comparison between theory and experiment. Methods. The +1 and –1 (π phase) amplitude transmissions required to produce a 4QC or an 8OC were obtained using complementary binary-masks (transmission of 1 or 0 for quadrants of similar parities) in the two arms of a MZI, taking advantage of the achromatic π phase shift between the two paths. In one output of the MZI, the reconstructed image of the focal plane is similar to those obtained for sectorised phase-masks coronagraphs, and the image of the aperture corresponds to the characteristic patterns of the 4QC/8OC coronagraphs. Results. Observations are compared with the theory published by other authors and developed further here. The expressions for the light diffracted outside the aperture image are simplified using the Zernike radial polynomials Z 1 instead of the rapidly diverging hypergeometric functions otherwise used. Experimental results are found to be in very good agreement with the theory. With the present laboratory experiment, about 99% of the light is rejected outside the Lyot stop and the contrast obtained beyond 5λ/D is higher than 10 5 for both the 4QC and 8OC. As expected, the 8OC is less affected by a pointing error than the 4QC, but more sensitive to an aperture central obstruction. Incidently, the loss of transmission for a planet crossing two phase masks is given theoretically as a function of the Lyot stop size, in agreement with observations.

We report numerical simulations and laboratory demonstrations of a four-quadrant phase mask (FQPM) coronagraph equipped with a Jacquinot pupil as a Lyot stop. We demonstrate that the Jacquinot-Lyot stop can effectively suppress the residual stellar intensity due to tip-tilt errors for unresolved stars. We also show that the achievable contrast with the Jacquinot-Lyot stop depends on the direction of the tip-tilt errors, which suggests that the contrast can be improved if the direction of these errors is monitored simultaneously with the data acquisition. Furthermore, we conduct laboratory experiments with a polarization differential imager in which the Jacquinot-Lyot stop is introduced into a four-quadrant polarization mask (FQPoM) coronagraph. In these experiments we also demonstrate two image processing techniques, a cross-correlation technique and a polarization-degree analysis, to extract planetary signal from residual stellar speckle noise.

International audience; Context. High-contrast hybrid coronagraphs, which combine an external occulter and a Lyot-style coronagraph became a reality in recent years, despite the lack of analytic and numerical end-to-end performance studies. The solar coronagraph ASPIICS which will fly on the future ESA Formation Flying mission Proba-3 is a good example of such a hybrid coronograph. Aims. We aim to provide a numerical model to compute theoretical performance of the hybrid externally occulted Lyot-style coronagraph, which we then aim to compare to the performance of the classical Lyot coronagraph and the externally occulted solar coronagraph. We will provide the level and intensity distribution of the stray light, when the Sun is considered as an extended source. We also investigate the effect of different sizes for the internal occulter and Lyot stop.Methods. First, we have built on a recently published approach, to express the diffracted wave front from Fresnel diffraction produced by an external occulter at the entrance aperture of the coronagraph. Second, we computed the coherent propagation of the wave front coming from a given point of the Sun through the instrument. This is performed in three steps: from the aperture to the image of the external occulter, where the internal occulter is set, from this plane to the image of the entrance aperture, where the Lyot stop is set, and from there to the final image plane. Making use of the axis-symmetry, we considered wave fronts originating from one radius of the Sun and we circularly average the intensities. Our numerical computation used the parameters of ASPIICS.Results. The hybrid externally occulted Lyot coronagraph rejects sunlight below 10E-8Mean Solar Brightness from 1,3 solar radius - in the particular configuration of ASPIICS. The Lyot coronagraph effectively complements the external occultation. We show that reducing the Lyot stop allows a clear gain in rejection, being even better than oversizing the internal occulter, that tends to exclude observations very close to the solar limb. As an illustration, we provide a graph that allows us to estimate performance as a function of the internal occulter and Lyot stop sizes.Conclusions. Our work consists of a methodological approach to compute the end-to-end performance for solar coronagraph.

For measurements of radiance temperatures in the range from 150°C to 1,000°C, low uncertainties in the temperature measurements can be achieved by using near-infrared InGaAs radiation thermometers. The design and construction of the NIST near-infrared radiation thermometer (NIRT) that is optimized for low size-of-source effect (SSE) and noise-equivalent temperatures are described. The NIRT utilizes a 50 mm diameter achromatic objective lens with low scatter that images a 4.5 mm diameter spot at a distance of 50 cm from the objective in an on-axis design. A Lyot stop is implemented in the design with the aperture stop placed after the field stop resulting in a collection f/12. A 3 mm diameter InGaAs detector is cooled to − 70°C using a four-stage thermoelectric cooler to obtain high-shunt resistance for linear, low-noise operation at high transimpedance amplifier gains. For thermal and structural stability, the optical components are placed on four, 15 mm diameter graphite-epoxy rods making the optical throughput stable. Optical ray tracing with a commercial program is used to determine the Strehl ratio and other imaging parameters. A possible approach for a detector-based temperature scale in this range which could result in 10 mK (k = 2) thermodynamic temperature uncertainties at the In-point is discussed.

The optical differentiation coronagraph relies on the optical differentiation technique implemented on a standard coronagraph. The use of a coronagraphic mask to estimate the first derivative of the incoming field shows high starlight suppression (theoretically infinite), but it is highly sensitive to pointing errors and suffers from monochromaticity drawbacks. In order to overcome these limitations, we generalize the optical differentiation concept to higher order derivatives. Here we describe a novel set of coronagraphic masks that estimate the second derivative of the incoming field. A mathematical description of the optical differentiation coronagraph is presented. These new masks also achieve a theoretical perfect suppression of the on-axis light, and furthermore, they are less sensitive to pointing errors (fourth-order sensitivity to tip/tilt error leakage). Moreover, they are pure amplitude masks, and hence they do not require a complementary phase mask, which represents an additional advantage. The use of a Gaussian roll-off helps to concentrate the diffracted starlight near the pupil borders, where it could be removed more efficiently by a Lyot stop, and transforms the coronagraph into a nearly band-limited coronagraph.

As adaptive optics technology continues to improve, the stellar coronagraph will play an ever increasing role in ground-based high-contrast imaging observations. Though several different image masks exist for the most common type of coronagraph, the Lyot coronagraph, it is not yet clear what level of wavefront correction must be reached in order to gain, either in starlight suppression or observing efficiency, by implementing a more sophisticated design. In this paper, we model image plane Lyot-style coronagraphs and test their response to a range of wavefront correction levels, in order to identify regimes of atmospheric compensation where the use of hard-edge, Gaussian, and band-limited image masks becomes observationally advantageous. To delineate performances, we calculate the speckle noise floor mean intensity. We find that apodized masks provide little improvement over hard-edge masks until on-sky Strehl ratios exceed $\sim0.88 \: S_{qs}$, where $S_{qs}$ is the intrinsic Strehl ratio provided by the optical system. Above this value, 4th-order band-limited masks out-perform Gaussian masks by generating comparable contrast with higher Lyot stop throughput. Below this level of correction, hard-edge masks may be preferentially chosen, since they are less susceptible to low-order aberration content. The use of higher-order band-limited masks is relegated to situations where quasi-static residual starlight cannot be sufficiently removed from the search area with speckle-nulling hardware.