Deployable Mini-Astrocomb

Astronomers have used spectrographs for centuries to study distant stars, planets, and other celestial bodies to understand their compositions, motions, and other properties. Recently, a technique known as the Precise Radial Velocity (PRV) method has been used to characterize exoplanets and their velocities around their host stars, which involves detecting the minute Doppler shift in the spectra of light emitted from the host stars originating from their orbital motion. To perform such precise measurements, a precision calibration tool is necessary: the optical frequency comb. However, one of the significant hurdles in the development of in-field (i.e., space-based) astronomical spectrograph devices lies with the optical frequency comb: they are far too bulky, power-hungry, and sensitive to their environments to be deployed in space, where aberrations in the measured spectrums due to the Earth’s atmosphere can be avoided. To address this need, Opto-Atomics Corp. (OAC) proposes to develop a Deployable Mini-Astrocomb (DMAC), which will provide an optical frequency comb with tunable comb-tooth spacing and stability traceable to the SI definition of the second. DMAC will also be frequency-referenced, allowing for reliable and long-term calibration of deployed spectrographs. Most advantageously, DMAC will consume < 20 W of power during operation and be designed and packaged to achieve resilience to environmental perturbations.

In the characterization of distant exoplanets, space-based astronomical spectroscopy has the potential to provide the cleanest data with no atmospheric noise. An optical frequency comb enabling on-site calibration will aid in the search for distant Earth-like planets and potentially for signs of extraterrestrial life as well. Other than the target NASA application in precise radial velocity measurements, compact optical frequency combs can be adopted in other NASA applications such as optical clocks or other metrology solutions. Optical frequency combs have the potential to advance many metrology solutions in commercial and military applications. For example, combs can be transmitted over open-air channels where fiber networks don’t exist to create a network of calibrated atomic clocks, which will be critical in many military applications. Optical frequency combs can also be highly useful in industrial applications involving precision metrology or calibration standards.

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