The Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter (SIMPol)

We propose to develop an imaging spectro-polarimeter capable of capturing 2D images of the Sun with full polarization information, over a narrow spectral band. This enables spectro-polarimetric studies of solar magnetism by measuring the full state of polarization over the entire region of interest with every camera frame, without the need for moving mechanisms (e.g., translating spectrograph slits or rotating polarization optics). The design exploits recent advances in nanophotonics enabling the fabrication of a new class of polarization-analyzing diffraction gratings, made of optical 'metasurfaces'. The proposed effort enables the application of metasurfaces to solar physics by prototyping a polarimeter and detector system - SIMPol (Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter) - that can be used as a stand-alone instrument or installed at the exit pupil of an observatory telescope or other imaging system. This effort also aims at significantly advancing metasurface design, fabrication, and performance. We will build the instrument, characterize its performance, and field-test it in actual solar observations. This project will advance the field of metasurfaces and apply these to the construction of a unique prototype instrument for solar studies. The effort directly addresses one of the objective of the most recent Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey, which calls out instrument development and explicitly lists the following as a high-priority item for development: 'Large-format, high-efficiency array detectors and rapidly switching polarization modulators that can measure heating and acceleration processes in the solar atmosphere.' The metasurface polarization analyzer enables capture of the full Stokes vector simultaneously with no temporal switching required, and thus directly addresses this key technological need.

Support NASA's Heliophysics strategic science objectives to understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather. This will be achieved by developing/demonstrating instrumentation technology necessary to address the following science goals: Explore the physical processes in the space environment from the Sun to the Earth and throughout the solar system; Advance our understanding of the connections that link the Sun, the Earth, planetary space environments, and the outer reaches of our solar system; Develop the knowledge and capability to detect and predict extreme conditions in space to protect life and society and to safeguard human and robotic explorers beyond Earth.

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