Cryogenic characterisation for the Nulling Interferometry Cryogenic Experiment (NICE)

Jonah T. Hansen; Emilie Bouzerand; Adrian M. Glauser; Bastien Rouzé; Noah Stocker; Walter Bachmann; Marcel Baer; Cindy Bellanger; Thomas Birbacher; Germain Garreau; Julio Pino-Jiménez; Jerome Primot; Eckhart Spalding; Sascha P. Quanz

arXiv · 2608.16291

Cryogenic characterisation for the Nulling Interferometry Cryogenic Experiment (NICE)

Jonah T. Hansen·Emilie Bouzerand·Adrian M. Glauser·Bastien Rouzé·Noah Stocker·Walter Bachmann·Marcel Baer·Cindy Bellanger·Thomas Birbacher·Germain Garreau·Julio Pino-Jiménez·Jerome Primot·Eckhart Spalding·Sascha P. Quanz

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Abstract

The Nulling Interferometry Cryogenic Experiment (NICE) is an experimental testbed for the beam combiner of the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) space mission. Until now, progress on NICE has been confined to an ambient bench, where we have recorded progress in deep ($<10^{-5}$) nulls at wavelengths between 4 and 5 microns at 300 K. However, the ultimate goal and requirement of NICE is to repeat these measurements at the sensitivity levels expected for a planetary system, requiring deep cryogenic conditions at 15 K. Here, we describe the ``Ice Cube'' cryostat, a small version of the future NICE cryostat that is used for component and subsystem level cryogenic testing. This is interfaced with a measurement setup using a segmented aperture interferometer and a wavefront sensor. We will also describe the testing campaign for understanding the material and mounting challenges that will be faced when translating the warm bench to cryogenic operations.

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Jonah T. Hansen, Emilie Bouzerand, Adrian M. Glauser, Bastien Rouzé, Noah Stocker, Walter Bachmann, Marcel Baer, Cindy Bellanger, Thomas Birbacher, Germain Garreau, Julio Pino-Jiménez, Jerome Primot, Eckhart Spalding, Sascha P. Quanz. 2026-08-17. Cryogenic characterisation for the Nulling Interferometry Cryogenic Experiment (NICE). https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.16291

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