We report laboratory development of coronagraphic devices to be implemented on the High Order Testbench (HOT) to assess intensity reduction between them at a high Strehl ratio regime. The high order test bench implements extreme adaptive optics with realistic telescope conditions reproduced by star and turbulence generators. A 32×32 actuator micro deformable mirror, one pyramid wave front sensor, one Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor and the ESO SPARTA real-time computer. This will enable characterization and comparative study of different types of coronagraphs in realistic conditions. We have developed several prototypes of promising coronagraphs concepts: Four Quadrants Phase Mask¹ (FQPM), Lyot² coronagraphs and Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph³ (APLC). We will describe the design of the IR coronagraphic path on HOT, prototyping processes used for each coronagraph and discuss quality control and first results obtained on a IR coronagraphic testbench (Strehl ratio ~ 94%). Finally, we will present our experiment plan and future coronagraph developments.

Date Published: 15 July 2008
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 7015, Adaptive Optics Systems, 70156B (15 July 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.788156

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7015:
Adaptive Optics Systems
Norbert Hubin; Claire E. Max; Peter L. Wizinowich, Editor(s)