Astronomical photonics in the context of infrared interferometry and high-resolution spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper reviews the emerging field of astrophotonics, focusing on its applications in infrared interferometry and high-resolution spectroscopy, highlighting recent achievements and future technological prospects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of astrophotonics' role in astronomical instrumentation, emphasizing its potential in spectro-interferometry and integration with adaptive optics.

Findings

Astrophotonics has enabled new observational capabilities in infrared interferometry.

Fiber optics are central to routing and filtering light in advanced astronomical instruments.

Synergies with other physics fields can drive future technological innovations.

Abstract

We review the potential of Astrophotonics, a relatively young field at the interface between photonics and astronomical instrumentation, for spectro-interferometry. We review some fundamental aspects of photonic science that drove the emer- gence of astrophotonics, and highlight the achievements in observational astrophysics. We analyze the prospects for further technological development also considering the potential synergies with other fields of physics (e.g. non-linear optics in condensed matter physics). We also stress the central role of fiber optics in routing and transporting light, delivering complex filters, or interfacing instruments and telescopes, more specifically in the context of a growing usage of adaptive optics.