Scaling relation for occulter manufacturing errors

Dan Sirbu, Stuart B. Shaklan, N. Jeremy Kasdin, Robert J. Vanderbei

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

An external occulter is a spacecraft own along the line-of-sight of a space telescope to suppress starlight and enable high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets. The shape of an external occulter must be specially designed to optimally suppress starlight; however, deviations from the ideal shape such as manufacturing errors can result in loss of suppression in the shadow. Due to the long separation distances and large dimensions involved for a space occulter, laboratory testing is conducted with scaled versions of occulters etched on silicon wafers. Using numerical simulations for a ight Fresnel occulter design, we show how the suppression performance of an occulter mask scales with the available propagation distance for expected random manufacturing defects along the edge of the occulter petal. We derive an analytical model for predicting performance due to such manufacturing defects across the petal edges of an occulter mask and compare this with the numerical simulations. We discuss the scaling of an extended occulter testbed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationTechniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII
EditorsStuart Shaklan
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781628417715
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
EventTechniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII - San Diego, United States
Duration: Aug 10 2015Aug 13 2015

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume9605
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherTechniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period8/10/158/13/15

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • External Occulters
  • High Contrast Imaging
  • Optical Verifi-cation
  • Scalar Diffraction
  • Scaling
  • Starshades

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