Efficient detection and characterization of exoplanets within the diffraction limit: nulling with a mode-selective photonic lantern

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel mode-selective photonic lantern to enhance exoplanet detection within the diffraction limit, improving throughput and localization capabilities compared to existing vortex fiber nullers.

Contribution

The paper proposes replacing the single-mode fiber in the VFN with a six-port photonic lantern, enabling better starlight rejection, higher throughput, and partial exoplanet localization.

Findings

Photonic Lantern Nuller (PLN) increases detection efficiency.

PLN allows partial localization and flux ratio estimation.

Simulations show PLN outperforms traditional VFN.

Abstract

Coronagraphs allow for faint off-axis exoplanets to be observed, but are limited to angular separations greater than a few beam widths. Accessing closer-in separations would greatly increase the expected number of detectable planets, which scales inversely with the inner working angle. The Vortex Fiber Nuller (VFN) is an instrument concept designed to characterize exoplanets within a single beam-width. It requires few optical elements and is compatible with many coronagraph designs as a complementary characterization tool. However, the peak throughput for planet light is limited to about 20%, and the measurement places poor constraints on the planet location and flux ratio. We propose to augment the VFN design by replacing its single-mode fiber with a six-port mode-selective photonic lantern, retaining the original functionality while providing several additional ports that reject starlight but couple planet light. We show that the photonic lantern can also be used as a nuller without a vortex. We present monochromatic simulations characterizing the response of the Photonic Lantern Nuller (PLN) to astrophysical signals and wavefront errors, and show that combining exoplanet flux from the nulled ports significantly increases the overall throughput of the instrument. We show using synthetically generated data that the PLN detects exoplanets more effectively than the VFN. Furthermore, with the PLN, the exoplanet can be partially localized, and its flux ratio constrained. The PLN has the potential to be a powerful characterization tool complementary to traditional coronagraphs in future high-contrast instruments.