Demonstration of high contrast with an obscured aperture with the WFIRST-AFTA shaped pupil coronagraph

TL;DR

This paper reports on achieving high-contrast imaging with a shaped pupil coronagraph on the WFIRST-AFTA mission, demonstrating key technological milestones for future space telescopes.

Contribution

It presents the successful demonstration of a high-contrast shaped pupil coronagraph achieving Milestone 2, advancing the technology readiness for space-based exoplanet imaging.

Findings

Achieved $10^{-8}$ contrast in narrowband testing with static aberrations.

Completed Milestone 2 for the shaped pupil coronagraph.

Plans outlined for broadband Milestone 5.

Abstract

The coronagraph instrument on the WFIRST-AFTA mission study has two coronagraphic architectures, shaped pupil and hybrid Lyot, which may be interchanged for use in different observing scenarios. Each architecture relies on newly-developed mask components to function in the presence of the AFTA aperture, and so both must be matured to a high technology readiness level (TRL) in advance of the mission. A series of milestones were set to track the development of the technologies required for the instrument; in this paper, we report on completion of WFIRST-AFTA Coronagraph Milestone 2---a narrowband $10^{-8}$ contrast test with static aberrations for the shaped pupil---and the plans for the upcoming broadband Coronagraph Milestone 5.