Abstract
By combining integral field spectroscopy with extreme adaptive optics, we are now able to resolve objects close to the diffraction limit of large telescopes, exploring new science cases. We introduce an integral field unit designed to couple light with a minimal plate scale from the SCExAO facility at NIR wavelengths to a single-mode spectrograph. The integral field unit has a 3D-printed micro-lens array on top of a custom single-mode multi-core fiber, to optimize the coupling of light into the fiber cores. We demonstrate the potential of the instrument via initial results from the first on-sky runs at the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope with a spectrograph using off-the-shelf optics, allowing for rapid development with low cost.
Highlights
A plethora of intrinsic and extrinsic information can be collected through astronomical spectroscopy, such as distance, motion properties, chemical characteristics, as well as the existence of nearby celestial bodies [1]
We show the first demonstration of a custom multi-core fiber (MCF) with in situ 3D-printed micro-lens array (MLA) on top of its 19 cores using two-photon polymerization lithography, in combination with a highly resolving power compact SM spectrograph optimized for the 900–1100 nm wavelength range, further on referred to as a 3D-printed mono-mode MCF spectrograph (3D-M3)
Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme AO (SCExAO) is equipped with an internal calibration system using a Fianium supercontinuum source to inject light using an endless single-mode fibers (SMFs) delivering a broadband diffraction-limited point spread function (PSF) into the facility following the same optical path as the light entering from the Subaru Telescope and the AO188 facility
Summary
A plethora of intrinsic and extrinsic information can be collected through astronomical spectroscopy, such as distance, motion properties, chemical characteristics, as well as the existence of nearby celestial bodies [1]. With the help of optical fibers, it became possible to guide starlight from the telescope to remotely located instruments This relaxed the mechanical constraints due to varying gravity vectors affecting the spectrograph, and the measurement precision increased, as the instrument could be stabilized and controlled far better in a stable environment as opposed to that in the telescope dome. The fibers in these instruments are typically large diameter multi-mode fibers (MMFs), in order to couple as much light as possible from a seeing-limited image [5,6]
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