Paper 13100-257
Infrared vector-apodizing phase plates: prototyping for ELT/METIS/MICADO
On demand | Presented live 20 June 2024
Abstract
The vector-Apodizing Phase Plate (vAPP) coronagraph is a single-element pupil-plane coronagraph that achromatically modifies phase to null star light in regions close to the star. The vAPP phase design can be optimized for any pupil shape to have small inner working angles and has been installed on multiple 8-m class telescopes. In this paper, we describe the manufacturing and performance testing of ELT/METIS and ELT/MICADO prototype vAPPs. We show the new vAPP designs and describe the manufacturing by Colorlink Japan, ltd. First, we demonstrate the performance of scaled vAPP prototypes manufactured in Nov 2023. We review the development and manufacturing of the liquid-crystal film, the alignment and performance of the chromium amplitude mask, and component level tests.
Presenter
David S. Doelman
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)
Dr. David Doelman is a postdoc at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and Leiden Observatory. He received his PhD at Leiden Observatory. His research focuses on astronomical instrumentation for exoplanet detection through high contrast imaging. His specific research topics are liquid crystal coronagraphs and polarimetry.