Testing commercial variable fiber attenuators and lenslet arrays for equalized integral field spectroscopy applications

We have been testing at laboratory commercial variable attenuators commonly used in telecommunication applications for their used in astronomy. Such variable attenuators are going to be included in the central fibers of the integral field unit (IFU) of the prototype instrument EDiFiSE (Equalized and Diffraction-limited Field Spectrograph Experiment). The EDiFiSE IFU is conformed by a lenslet array of 331 lenses, 331 fibers and seven variable attenuators (inserted in the seven central fibers of the bundle). We present here the characterization of the attenuator devices tested for their use in astronomy and, in particular, to their application in the observation of object of large dynamic range using equalized integral field spectroscopy. We also present the optical tests we have carried out to characterize the performances of two lenslet arrays acquired in the framework of the EDiFiSE project.