
Proceedings Paper
Breadboarding an achromatic phase shifter for mid-infrared nulling interferometryFormat | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
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Paper Abstract
Direct detections of Earth-like extrasolar planets are extremely challenging and require to overcome the huge brightness
contrast between two sources that have a very small angular separation. One possible solution to this problem is nulling
interferometry at mid-infrared wavelengths where the flux ratio between host star and planet is more favorable than in
the visible. The beams of an array of telescopes are combined so that the light from the on-axis direction (the star) is
canceled by destructive interference, while the light from an off-axis direction (the planet) is kept. The global
performance of such a system depends strongly on the accuracy and stability of the achromatic phase shift and the beam
combination. To assess the technological feasibility of this technique, the European Space Agency (ESA) and IAS Paris
have initiated a study of different physical concepts and technical realizations of achromatic phase shifters (APS) that
fulfill the following requirements: allowing a >10-6 rejection rate or better over a wavelength range 6-20μm and
providing a transmission better than 95%. MPIA, in collaboration with the Kayser-Threde GmbH in Munich and the IOF
Fraunhofer institute for applied optics in Jena has breadboarded and studied a phase shifter that is based on the geometric
reversal of the electric field vectors (pupil flip) at two successive antisymmetric 90 degree reflections. In this paper we
describe the bread-boarded phase-shifter device and the results of our characterization measurements in the Lab.
Paper Details
Date Published: 28 July 2008
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 7013, Optical and Infrared Interferometry, 70134R (28 July 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.789422
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7013:
Optical and Infrared Interferometry
Markus Schöller; William C. Danchi; Françoise Delplancke, Editor(s)
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 7013, Optical and Infrared Interferometry, 70134R (28 July 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.789422
Show Author Affiliations
R. Launhardt, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Germany)
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7013:
Optical and Infrared Interferometry
Markus Schöller; William C. Danchi; Françoise Delplancke, Editor(s)
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