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arXiv · 2411.03254

Computation of the Fresnel diffraction of starshades based on a polygonal approximation

Simon Prunet·Claude Aime·André Ferrari·Céline Theys
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Abstract

The design of starshades, i.e. external occulters for stellar coronography, relies on the fast and precise computation of their associated diffraction patterns of incoming plane waves in the telescope aperture plane. We present here a method based on a polygonal approximation of the occulter's shape, that allows fast computation of their diffraction patterns in the Fresnel approximation, without aliasing artefacts. It is competitive with respect to methods based on direct 2D Fourier transforms, or Boundary Diffraction Wave algorithms.

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Simon Prunet, Claude Aime, André Ferrari, Céline Theys. 2024-11-05. Computation of the Fresnel diffraction of starshades based on a polygonal approximation. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3014300

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