Integrated optics interferometric four telescopes nuller

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and testing of an integrated optics interferometric device for four-telescope nulling, demonstrating effective starlight suppression for exoplanet detection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated optics component for four-telescope nulling interferometry and validates its performance with monochromatic light tests.

Findings

Nulling scales as the fourth power of baseline delay

Successful manufacturing and testing of the integrated optics component

Demonstrated potential for exoplanet detection techniques

Abstract

Nulling interferometry has been identified as a competitive technique for the detection of extrasolar planets. The technique consists in combining out-of-phase pairs of telescopes to null effectively the light of a bright star an reveal the dim glow of the companion. We have manufactured and tested with monochromatic light an integrated optics component which combines a linear array of 4 telescopes in the nulling mode envisaged by Angel & Wolf (1997). Our testbench simulates the motion of a star in the sky. The tests have demonstrated a nulling scaling as the fourth power of the baseline delay.