Advancing precision exoplanet science using single-mode fiber-fed spectroscopy

High resolution spectroscopic measurements will continue to play an essential role in informing our understanding of exoplanet orbits (period, eccentricity, spin-orbit alignment), masses, and bulk compositions in the coming decades. Studying these key physical properties will help to assess the potential for habitability while also developing a more holistic understanding of planet formation and evolution. In addition to supporting transit surveys, the radial velocity (RV) method will also play a critical role in the detection and characterization of planets that are directly imaged by NASA space missions including JWST, ROMAN and the Habitable Worlds Observatory. For these reasons, the scientific motivation to continue to advance the sensitivity, resolution, and precision of extreme precision radial velocity (EPRV) spectrographs to the centimeter-per-second level has been identified as a high priority by several comprehensive community studies, including the 2021 "Pathways to Discovery" Decadal Survey Report, 2021 NASA-NSF EPRV Initiative and 2019 NAS "Exoplanet Science Strategy". This proposal seeks to address key technical challenges that currently face the construction of high-resolution (R>150,000), stable spectrometers that operate at the diffraction limit. At the centimeters-per-second level, any type of subtle optical or instrumental variation can impact RV performance, including accounting for the vector nature of light. Core hardware elements common to single-mode fiber-fed spectrographs will be studied and developed including: (1) large-format high-obliquity (tan(theta)=6.1) diffraction gratings with very low wavefront error (< lambda/20) that are manufactured from intrinsically stable materials; (2) temporal mixing of s-mode and p-mode variations output from single mode fibers (SMF) after reflecting from diffraction gratings (so-called "polarization noise"); (3) performance of low-persistence H4RG-10 infrared detectors for EPRV science; and (4) low loss (<0.1 dB) SMF connector technologies to maximize end-to-end instrument throughput. Studies will utilize and augment an R=190,000 SMF-fed spectrograph named "iLocater," which will be delivered in 2024 to the dual 8.4m aperture Large Binocular Telescope. Representing the first EPRV-optimized, diffraction-limited Doppler instrument, iLocater will serve as a unique testbed to develop state-of-the-art EPRV technologies and study error sources that have yet to be quantified using laboratory, solar, and on-sky data. The proposed investigations will advance NASA's scientific goal to "discover and study planets around other stars, and explore whether they could harbor life." Studying the core elements of SMF-fed spectrometers will inform future mission concepts, the NASA EPRV program, and help future NIR astrophysics spectrometer programs. iLocater will further: enable studies to characterize and mitigate stellar activity (a key challenge that limits the precision of existing Doppler instruments); provide mass, density, and spin-orbit information for transiting planets discovered by Kepler and TESS; refine exoplanet target priorities for atmospheric characterization using transmission spectroscopy with JWST and the Ariel mission; improve orbital solutions for Nancy Grace Roman Telescope CGI targets; and measure the masses of planets near the habitable zones of stars observed by the Astro2020 recommended Habitable Worlds Observatory.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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