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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Atmospheric characterization of giant planets, the exoplanetary class most amenable to empirical detection, currently spans a limited parameter space. Close-orbit giants are characterized by transmission spectroscopy while giants orbiting at least 2 orders of magnitude farther from their stars are studied through direct imaging. Direct imaging is the most feasible approach for studying planets in the intermediate regime but requires improving the current standards of starlight suppression and angular resolution. We propose a “dual-aperture fiber nuller” (DAFN) as a technology to bridge this gap in exoplanet observation. Such an instrument splits the source light into two beams that are offset in phase by π before they are allowed to interfere and couple into a single mode fiber. In this way, the on-axis light (starlight) is “nulled” while off-axis light (planet light) is transmitted to a high-resolution spectrograph to further distinguish the planet’s atmospheric signature from the host star’s light. The concept can potentially be deployed to preexisting interferometric frameworks such as the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer, a NASA-funded facility to which we have institutional access. The performance of the DAFN is competitive among only a few existing technologies. Furthermore, it has the cost-effective advantage of improving angular resolution through interferometry rather than increasing aperture size. We will perform comparative studies with another complementary technique, the vortex filer nuller, for which a visiting technologist experience and collaboration with NASA-JPL is critical. The DAFN technology will aid NASA’s Strategic Objective to design and launch an exoplanet direct imaging mission facilitating the search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zone. The DAFN testbed can benefit upcoming prospective exoplanet direct imaging missions such as HabEx and LUVOIR. Additionally, the development of DAFN will be synergistic with the proposed LIFE and LISA missions, which innately rely upon space-based interferometry at the core of their technology.
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