To meet the challenge of segmented and obscured aperture coronagraphy, the ExEP’s Segmented Coronagraph Design and Analysis (SCDA) study funds several groups to design and model coronagraph architectures that enable 10^-10 contrast sensitivities (needed to direct-image Earth-like exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars) with optimal throughput and robustness to many wavefront errors. In addition to the baseline 12 m SCDA set of segmented and obscured apertures shown above, the SCDA teams are working with the LUVOIR study design team to include their 15 m aperture. Robustness calculations will determine the sensitivities of these coronagraph designs to the effects of optical misalignments, and help to establish error budgets. How these error budgets translate to sensing and control of the wavefront errors through mechanical movements is a critical question for the future of these architectures and coronagraphy in space.

SCDA teams

The SCDA study is a collaboration of coronagraphers at multiple institutions (STScI, GSFC, Ames, JPL, Caltech, University of Arizona) investigating several flavors of coronagraph as starting points for achieving designs that maximize science yield (number of detected exo-Earths) and are robust to expected on-orbit disturbances. The task lead is Brendan Crill (ExEP - NASA/JPL) and the technical lead is Stuart Shaklan (NASA/JPL).

1. Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph: Rémi Soummer (STScI) et al.

2. Vortex Coronagraph: Dimitri Mawet (Caltech) et al.

3. Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization - Complex Mask Coronagraph (PIAACMC): Guyon (University of Arizona) et al in collaboration wtih Belikov et al. TDEM work.

4. Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph: El Dorado Riggs (JPL) et al.

5. Visible Nuller Coronagraph: Hicks (GSFC) et al.

SCDA Bibliography

• G. Ruane, A. Riggs, C. T. Coker, S. B. Shaklan, E. Sidick, D. Mawet, J. Jewell, K. Balasubramanian, C. C. Stark, "Fast linearized coronagraph optimizer (FALCO) IV: coronagraph design survey for obstructed and segmented apertures," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106984U (21 August 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312973

• Rémi Soummer, Gregory R. Brady, Keira Brooks, Thomas Comeau, Élodie Choquet, Tom Dillon, Sylvain Egron, Rob Gontrum, John Hagopian, Iva Laginja, Lucie Leboulleux, Marshall D. Perrin, Peter Petrone, Laurent Pueyo, Johan Mazoyer, Mamadou N'Diaye, A. J. Eldorado Riggs, Ron Shiri, Anand Sivaramakrishnan, Kathryn St. Laurent, Ana-Maria Valenzuela, Neil T. Zimmerman, "High-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (HiCAT): 5. first results with segmented-aperture coronagraph and wavefront control," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106981O (21 August 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314110

• Kevin Fogarty, Johan Mazoyer, Kathryn St. Laurent, Rémi Soummer, Mamadou N'Diaye, Chris Stark, Laurent Pueyo, "Optimal deformable mirror and pupil apodization combinations for apodized pupil Lyot coronagraphs with obstructed pupils," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106981J (21 August 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314394

• A J Eldorado Riggs, Garreth Ruane, Erkin Sidick, Carl Coker, Brian D. Kern, Stuart B. Shaklan, "Fast linearized coronagraph optimizer (FALCO) I: a software toolbox for rapid coronagraphic design and wavefront correction," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106982V (9 August 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313812

• Coker, C. T., Riggs, A. J. E., Sidick, E., Seo, B.-J., Kern, B. D., Marx, D. S., et al. (2018). Fast linearized coronagraph optimizer (FALCO) III: optimization of key coronagraph design parameters. In H. A. MacEwen, M. Lystrup, G. G. Fazio, N. Batalha, E. C. Tong, & N. Siegler (Eds.), (Vol. 10698, p. 174). Presented at the Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, SPIE. http://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313788

• Kathryn St. Laurent, Kevin Fogarty, Neil T. Zimmerman, Mamadou N'Diaye, Christopher C. Stark, Johan Mazoyer, Anand Sivaramakrishnan, Laurent Pueyo, Stuart Shaklan, Robert Vanderbei, Rémi Soummer, "Apodized pupil Lyot coronagraphs designs for future segmented space telescopes," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106982W (16 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313902

• Manxuan Zhang, Garreth Ruane, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Dimitri Mawet, Nemanja Jovanovic, Jeffrey Jewell, Stuart Shaklan, J. Kent Wallace, "Characterization of microdot apodizers for imaging exoplanets with next-generation space telescopes ," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106985X (12 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312831

• Erkin Sidick, A. J. Eldorado Riggs, Garreth Ruane, John Krist, Dwight Moody, Carl Coker, "Fast linearized coronagraph optimizer (FALCO) II: optical model validation and time savings over other methods," Proc. SPIE 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 106984S (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312950

• Mazoyer, J., Pueyo, L., N’Diaye, M., Fogarty, K., Zimmerman, N., Leboulleux, L., et al. (2018). Active Correction of Aperture Discontinuities-Optimized Stroke Minimization. I. A New Adaptive Interaction Matrix Algorithm. The Astronomical Journal, 155(1), 7. http://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa91cf

• Ruane, G., Mawet, D., Mennesson, B., Jewell, J., & Shaklan, S. (2018). Vortex coronagraphs for the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission concept: theoretical performance and telescope requirements. Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 4(1), 015004. http://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.1.015004

• Jeffrey Jewell, Garreth Ruane, Stuart Shaklan, Dimitri Mawet, Dave Redding, "Optimization of coronagraph design for segmented aperture telescopes," Proc. SPIE 10400, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII, 104000H (13 September 2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2274574

• Ruane, G., Mawet, D., Jewell, J., & Shaklan, S. (2017). Performance and sensitivity of vortex coronagraphs on segmented space telescopes. In Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII (Vol. 10400, p. 104000J). International Society for Optics and Photonics. http://doi.org/10.1117/12.2274508

• Justin M. Knight, John Brewer, Ryan Hamilton, Karen Ward, Tom D. Milster, Olivier Guyon, "Design, fabrication, and testing of stellar coronagraphs for exoplanet imaging," Proc. SPIE 10400, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII, 104000N (12 September 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273558

• Brendan P. Crill, Nicholas Siegler, "Space technology for directly imaging and characterizing exo-Earths," Proc. SPIE 10398, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts VIII, 103980H (5 September 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2275697

• Johan Mazoyer, Laurent Pueyo, Mamadou N'Diaye, Kevin Fogarty, Lucie Leboulleux, Sylvain Egron, Colin Norman, "Capabilities of ACAD-OSM, an active method for the correction of aperture discontinuities," Proc. SPIE 10400, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII, 104000G (1 September 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273070

• Johan Mazoyer, Laurent Pueyo, Mamadou N'Diaye, Dimitri Mawet, Rémi Soummer, Colin Norman, "Correcting for the effects of pupil discontinuities with the ACAD method," Proc. SPIE 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 99044T (29 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232907

• Neil T. Zimmerman, Mamadou N'Diaye, Kathryn E. St. Laurent, Rémi Soummer, Laurent Pueyo, Christopher C. Stark, Anand Sivaramakrishnan, Marshall Perrin, Robert J. Vanderbei, N. Jeremy Kasdin, Stuart Shaklan, Alexis Carlotti, "Lyot coronagraph design study for large, segmented space telescope apertures," Proc. SPIE 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 99041Y (29 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233205