First on-sky demonstration of an integrated-photonic nulling interferometer: the GLINT instrument
First on-sky demonstration of an integrated-photonic nulling interferometer: the GLINT instrument
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DOI：
10.1093/mnras/stz3277
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发表时间：
2019-11
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
B. Norris;N. Cvetojevic;T. Lagadec;N. Jovanovic;S. Gross;A. Arriola;T. Gretzinger;M. Martinod;O. Guyon;J. Lozi;Michael J.Withford;J. Lawrence;P. Tuthill
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作者：
B. Norris;N. Cvetojevic;T. Lagadec;N. Jovanovic;S. Gross;A. Arriola;T. Gretzinger;M. Martinod;O. Guyon;J. Lozi;Michael J.Withford;J. Lawrence;P. Tuthill
系外行星的特征对于了解行星的多样性和形成，其大气成分以及生命的潜力至关重要。当来自行星的光可以在空间上与宿主星星的光分离时，这一努力将大大增强。一种潜在的方法是调零干涉测量法，其中通过相消干涉去除污染的星光。GLINT仪器是一种具有新颖功能的光子调零干涉仪，现已在天空测试中得到验证。该仪器将望远镜的光瞳分割成子孔径，这些子孔径被注入单模光子芯片内的波导中。在这里，所有必要的光束分裂，路由和重组使用集成的光子组件进行。我们描述了我们的GLINT探路者仪器的设计，建造和实验室测试。然后，我们在斯巴鲁望远镜上展示了这种方法在天空中的有效性，在天空中实现了10 - 10−4的零深度精度，并成功地确定了恒星的角直径（通过他们的零深度测量）到毫角秒的精度。描述了一种用于分析这些数据的统计方法，沿着概述了部署这种技术用于尖端科学所需的下一步。
The characterization of exoplanets is critical to understanding planet diversity and formation, their atmospheric composition, and the potential for life. This endeavour is greatly enhanced when light from the planet can be spatially separated from that of the host star. One potential method is nulling interferometry, where the contaminating starlight is removed via destructive interference. The GLINT instrument is a photonic nulling interferometer with novel capabilities that has now been demonstrated in on-sky testing. The instrument fragments the telescope pupil into sub-apertures that are injected into waveguides within a single-mode photonic chip. Here, all requisite beam splitting, routing, and recombination are performed using integrated photonic components. We describe the design, construction, and laboratory testing of our GLINT pathfinder instrument. We then demonstrate the efficacy of this method on sky at the Subaru Telescope, achieving a null-depth precision on sky of ∼10−4 and successfully determining the angular diameter of stars (via their null-depth measurements) to milliarcsecond accuracy. A statistical method for analysing such data is described, along with an outline of the next steps required to deploy this technique for cutting-edge science.