Pixel-Level Calibration for Space-Based High Precision Astrometry Using Young's Fringes

Hugo Rousset; Eric Thiébaut; Chloé Rey; Manon Lizzana; Sébastien Soler; Fabrice Pancher; Julien Michelot; Logi Olgeirsson; Jean Baptiste Le Bouquin; Alain Léger; Fabien Malbet

arXiv · 2608.03356

Pixel-Level Calibration for Space-Based High Precision Astrometry Using Young's Fringes

Hugo Rousset·Eric Thiébaut·Chloé Rey·Manon Lizzana·Sébastien Soler·Fabrice Pancher·Julien Michelot·Logi Olgeirsson·Jean Baptiste Le Bouquin·Alain Léger·Fabien Malbet

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Abstract

The detection of Earth-like exoplanets via astrometry necessitates centroiding precision at the 0.3 microarcsec level, thereby imposing stringent constraints on the focal plane geometry of space telescopes. The AGATE focal plane instrument, a proposed component of the NASA Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), aims to achieve this objective through the calibration of the intra-pixel response function of CMOS detectors to an accuracy of 50 micropixel (220 nm The present paper proposes a Young's fringes-based calibration method, derived from those employed by JPL and IPAG, for the purpose of mapping the pixel response barycenter offsets across the detector. Using a Pyxalis GIGAPYX-4600 CMOS sensor, we demonstrate via simulations and laboratory measurements that (1) a precision of 500 micropixel is achievable with 10,000 frames (current setup); (2) inter-pixel capacitance crosstalk and fringe hyperbolicity are dominating the errors at small and large scales, respectively; and, (3) an iterative inverse problem approach with a hyperbolic fringe model is proposed to overcome paraxial approximation limits for 1 Gpix focal planes. These results pave the way for on-board calibration of HWO's astrometric instrument, ensuring the sub-microarcsec precision required for exo-Earth detection.

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Hugo Rousset, Eric Thiébaut, Chloé Rey, Manon Lizzana, Sébastien Soler, Fabrice Pancher, Julien Michelot, Logi Olgeirsson, Jean Baptiste Le Bouquin, Alain Léger, Fabien Malbet. 2026-08-04. Pixel-Level Calibration for Space-Based High Precision Astrometry Using Young's Fringes. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.03356

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