Design and experimental test of an optical vortex coronagraph

TL;DR

This paper presents the design and laboratory testing of an optical vortex coronagraph using liquid crystal polymers, demonstrating high contrast imaging capabilities at specific wavelengths for potential exoplanet observation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel LCP-based OVC design and provides experimental validation of its performance at 633nm and 1520nm wavelengths.

Findings

Achieved contrast of 10^-6 at 3λ/D angular distance

Demonstrated effective laboratory performance at two wavelengths

Potential for direct exoplanet imaging with adaptive optics

Abstract

The optical vortex coronagraph (OVC) is one of the promising ways for direct imaging exoplanets because of its small inner working angle and high throughput. This paper presents the design and laboratory demonstration performance at 633nm and 1520nm of the OVC based on liquid crystal polymers (LCP). Two LCPs has been manufactured in partnership with a commercial vendor. The OVC can deliver a good performance in laboratory test and achieve the contrast of the order 10^-6 at angular distance 3{\lambda}/D, which is able to image the giant exoplanets at a young stage in combination with extreme adaptive optics.