2004/10/01 by C. Marois, Christian Marois, René Racine +7 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #Advanced optical system design #Optical Polarization and Ellipsometry #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/426077
published as Astrophys.J. 615 (2004) L61 · 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted APJL
arxiv created 2004/10/01 · openalex publication_date 2004/10/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Simultaneous spectral differential imaging is a high-contrast technique by which subtraction of simultaneous images reduces noise from atmospheric speckles and optical aberrations. Small non-common-wave-front errors between channels can seriously degrade its performance. We present a new concept, a multicolor detector assembly, which can eliminate this problem. The device consists of an infrared detector and a microlens array onto the flat side of which a checkerboard pattern of narrowband microfilters is deposited, each microfilter coinciding with a microlens. Practical considerations for successful implementation of the technique are mentioned. Numerical simulations predict a noise attenuation of 10 -3 at 0 5 for a 10 5 s integration on a m H = 5 star of Strehl ratio 0.9 taken with an 8 m telescope. This reaches a contrast of 10 -7 at an angular distance of 0 5 from the center of the star image.