Overview of the spectrometer optical fiber feed for the Habitable-zone Planet Finder

TL;DR

This paper details the preparation, integration, and configuration of optical fibers for the Habitable-zone Planet Finder, a precision NIR spectrograph, emphasizing fiber handling, polishing, splicing, and mode operation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the fiber feed system for HPF, including novel procedures for fiber preparation and integration into the instrument.

Findings

Successful fiber polishing and splicing techniques implemented.

Effective integration of fiber heads with the spectrograph modes.

Operational readiness of the fiber system for high-resolution observations.

Abstract

The Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) is a highly stabilized fiber fed precision radial velocity (RV) spectrograph working in the Near Infrared (NIR): 810 - 1280 nm . In this paper we present an overview of the preparation of the optical fibers for HPF. The entire fiber train from the telescope focus down to the cryostat is detailed. We also discuss the fiber polishing, splicing and its integration into the instrument using a fused silica puck. HPF was designed to be able to operate in two modes, High Resolution (HR- the only mode mode currently commissioned) and High Efficiency (HE). We discuss these fiber heads and the procedure we adopted to attach the slit on to the HR fibers.