Characterization of diamond-turned optics for SCALES

Isabel J. Kain; Phil Hinz; Marius Doetz; Benjamin Bulla; Renate Kupke; Daren Dillon; Andrew Skemer; Deno Stelter; Michael Gonzales; Nicholas MacDonald; Aditi Gangadharan; Cristian Rodriguez; Christopher Ratliff; Mackenzie R. Lach; Steph Sallum

doi:10.1117/12.2677716

arXiv · 2310.11592

Characterization of diamond-turned optics for SCALES

Isabel J. Kain·Phil Hinz·Marius Doetz·Benjamin Bulla·Renate Kupke·Daren Dillon·Andrew Skemer·Deno Stelter·Michael Gonzales·Nicholas MacDonald·Aditi Gangadharan·Cristian Rodriguez·Christopher Ratliff·Mackenzie R. Lach·Steph Sallum

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Abstract

High-contrast imaging has been used to discover and characterize dozens of exoplanets to date. The primary limiting performance factor for these instruments is contrast, the ratio of exoplanet to host star brightness that an instrument can successfully resolve. Contrast is largely determined by wavefront error, consisting of uncorrected atmospheric turbulence and optical aberrations downstream of AO correction. Single-point diamond turning allows for high-precision optics to be manufactured for use in astronomical instrumentation, presenting a cheaper and more versatile alternative to conventional glass polishing. This work presents measurements of wavefront error for diamond-turned aluminum optics in the Slicer Combined with an Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy (SCALES) instrument, a 2-5 micron coronagraphic integral field spectrograph under construction for Keck Observatory. Wavefront error measurements for these optics are used to simulate SCALES' point spread function using physical optics propagation software poppy, showing that SCALES' contrast performance is not limited by wavefront error from internal instrument optics.

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Isabel J. Kain, Phil Hinz, Marius Doetz, Benjamin Bulla, Renate Kupke, Daren Dillon, Andrew Skemer, Deno Stelter, Michael Gonzales, Nicholas MacDonald, Aditi Gangadharan, Cristian Rodriguez, Christopher Ratliff, Mackenzie R. Lach, Steph Sallum. 2023-10-17. Characterization of diamond-turned optics for SCALES. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677716

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