Four-quadrant Phase Mask Research Articles

An Eight-Octant Phase-Mask Coronagraph

ABSTRACTWe present numerical simulations and laboratory experiments on an eight-octant phase-mask (EOPM) coronagraph. The numerical simulations suggest that an achievable contrast for the EOPM coronagraph can be greatly improved as compared to that of a four-quadrant phase-mask (FQPM) coronagraph for a partially resolved star. On-sky transmission maps reveal that the EOPM coronagraph has relatively high optical throughput, a small inner working angle, and large discovery space. We have manufactured an eight-segment phase mask utilizing a nematic liquid-crystal device, which can be easily switched between the FQPM and the EOPM modes. The laboratory experiments demonstrate that the EOPM coronagraph has a better tolerance of the tip-tilt error than the FQPM one. We also discuss feasibility of a fully achromatic and high-throughput EOPM coronagraph utilizing a polarization interferometric technique.

Four‐Quadrant Phase Mask Coronagraph with a Jacquinot‐Lyot Stop

We report numerical simulations and laboratory demonstrations of a four-quadrant phase mask (FQPM) coronagraph equipped with a Jacquinot pupil as a Lyot stop. We demonstrate that the Jacquinot-Lyot stop can effectively suppress the residual stellar intensity due to tip-tilt errors for unresolved stars. We also show that the achievable contrast with the Jacquinot-Lyot stop depends on the direction of the tip-tilt errors, which suggests that the contrast can be improved if the direction of these errors is monitored simultaneously with the data acquisition. Furthermore, we conduct laboratory experiments with a polarization differential imager in which the Jacquinot-Lyot stop is introduced into a four-quadrant polarization mask (FQPoM) coronagraph. In these experiments we also demonstrate two image processing techniques, a cross-correlation technique and a polarization-degree analysis, to extract planetary signal from residual stellar speckle noise.

The four-quadrant phase-mask coronagraph: white light laboratory results with an achromatic device

Achromatic coronagraphs are the subject of intensive research since they will be mandatory for many programs which aim at detecting and characterizing exoplanets. We report a laboratory experiment assessing the performance of the Four-Quadrant Phase-Mask coronagraph (FQPM) over a broadband wavelength range (R≈2). The achromatization of the FQPM is provided by achromatic halfwave plates (HWP). These phase shifters combine birefringent plates made of different materials with properly chosen thicknesses. The HWP thickness control is relaxed by two orders of magnitudes with respect to the classical (non-birefringent) dispersive plate approach. In our experiment we used a two stage stack of Quartz and MgF_2. This combination allows to cover a large spectral range in the visible (500-900nm) with a small phase error residual around π(≈0.12 rad rms). With this achromatization, we obtained an attenuation of 755 on the white light PSF peak. This solution is directly applicable to ground-based telescopes using high order adaptive optics such as the ESO's VLT-Planet Finder project and could easily be transposed in the mid-infrared domain for future space-based missions like DARWIN/TPF.

Pupil‐remapping Mirrors for a Four‐Quadrant Phase Mask Coronagraph

ABSTRACTA coronagraph with a four‐quadrant phase mask (FQPM) can perfectly eliminate stellar light under ideal conditions. However, the coronagraphic performance is severely degraded in a telescope with a central obscuration. We show that a high‐performance FQPM coronagraph can be realized with a centrally obscured telescope by using a two‐mirror pupil‐remapping system. We calculate the optimal shapes of the remapping mirrors to transform a centrally obscured pupil into clear circular one. The mirror shapes become parabola‐like, and the remapping mirrors are shown to provide good coronagraphic performance. The expected performance with adaptive optics systems is also evaluated.

Achromatic four-quadrant phase mask (FQPM) coronagraphy using natural beam splitter phase shifts

The four-quadrant phase mask (FQPM) is an exciting new approach to coronagraphy, a classic astronomical technique for detecting faint companions very close to bright stars. Starlight rejection is potentially very high, and inner working distances are substantially smaller than those achieved with classical Lyot coronagraphy. The key component of the original FQPM scheme is a transparent mask divided into quadrants delivering relative phase shifts alternately 0/pi/0/pi, inserted in an intermediate focal plane of the telescope. Monochromatic masks of this kind have been successfully demonstrated in laboratory and telescope tests. Fabrication of masks with achromatic pi phase shifts is challenging but of great interest for optimum astronomical sensitivity. In this paper I present a novel concept for achromatic FQPM operation that utilizes intrinsic phase relationships between transmitted and reflected beams in a dielectric beam splitter.