Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations: implementation and first light

Daniel Echeverri; Jerry Xuan; Nemanja Jovanovic; Garreth Ruane; Jacques Robert Delorme; Dimitri Mawet; Bertrand Mennesson; Eugene Serabyn; J. Kent Wallace; Jason Wang; Jean Baptiste Ruffio; Luke Finnerty; Yinzi Xin; Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer; Ashley Baker; Randall Bartos; Benjamin Calvin; Sylvain Cetre; Greg Doppmann; Michael P. Fitzgerald; Sofia Hillman; Katelyn Horstman; Chih Chun Hsu; Joshua Liberman; Ronald Lopez; Evan Morris; Jacklyn Pezzato; Caprice L. Phillips; Bin B. Ren; Ben Sappey; Tobias Schofield; Andrew J. Skemer; Connor Vancil; Ji Wang

doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002

Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations: implementation and first light

Daniel Echeverri^*, Jerry Xuan, Nemanja Jovanovic, Garreth Ruane, Jacques Robert Delorme, Dimitri Mawet, Bertrand Mennesson, Eugene Serabyn, J. Kent Wallace, Jason Wang, Jean Baptiste Ruffio, Luke Finnerty, Yinzi Xin, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer, Ashley Baker, Randall Bartos, Benjamin Calvin, Sylvain Cetre, Greg Doppmann, Michael P. FitzgeraldSofia Hillman, Katelyn Horstman, Chih Chun Hsu, Joshua Liberman, Ronald Lopez, Evan Morris, Jacklyn Pezzato, Caprice L. Phillips, Bin B. Ren, Ben Sappey, Tobias Schofield, Andrew J. Skemer, Connor Vancil, Ji Wang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vortex fiber nulling (VFN) is a single-aperture interferometric technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanets separated from their host star by less than a diffracted beam width. VFN uses a vortex mask and single-mode fiber to selectively reject starlight while coupling off-axis planet light with a simple optical design that can be readily implemented on existing direct imaging instruments that can feed light to an optical fiber. With its axially symmetric coupling region peaking within the inner working angle of conventional coronagraphs, VFN is more efficient at detecting new companions at small separations than conventional direct imaging, thereby increasing the yield of on-going exoplanet search campaigns. We deployed a VFN mode operating in K band (2.0 to 2.5 μm) on the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II Telescope. We present the instrument design of this first on-sky demonstration of VFN and the results from on-sky commissioning, including planet and star throughput measurements and predicted flux-ratio detection limits for close-in companions. The instrument performance is shown to be sufficient for detecting a companion 103 times fainter than a fifth magnitude host star in 1 h at a separation of 50 mas (1.1 λ / D). This makes the instrument capable of efficiently detecting substellar companions around young stars. We also discuss several routes for improvement that will reduce the required integration time for a detection by a factor >3.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	035002
Journal	Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
Volume	9
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002
State	Published - Jul 1 2023

Funding

D. Echeverri was supported by a NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship under award #80NSSC19K1423. D. Echeverri also acknowledges support from the Keck Visiting Scholars Program (KVSP) to install the Phase II upgrades required for KPIC VFN. Funding for KPIC has been provided by the California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Heising-Simons Foundation (grants #2015-129, #2017-318, and #2019-1312), the Simons Foundation (through the Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution), and the NSF under Grant AST-1611623. The authors wish to recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Maunakea has always had within the indigenous Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain. The authors have no relevant financial interests and no potential conflicts of interest to disclose in this work.

Keywords

exoplanets
fiber nulling
instrumentation
optical vortices
spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Control and Systems Engineering
Instrumentation
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Mechanical Engineering
Space and Planetary Science

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Echeverri, D., Xuan, J., Jovanovic, N., Ruane, G., Delorme, J. R., Mawet, D., Mennesson, B., Serabyn, E., Wallace, J. K., Wang, J., Ruffio, J. B., Finnerty, L., Xin, Y., Millar-Blanchaer, M., Baker, A., Bartos, R., Calvin, B., Cetre, S., Doppmann, G., ... Wang, J. (2023). Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations: implementation and first light. Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 9(3), Article 035002. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002

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abstract = "Vortex fiber nulling (VFN) is a single-aperture interferometric technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanets separated from their host star by less than a diffracted beam width. VFN uses a vortex mask and single-mode fiber to selectively reject starlight while coupling off-axis planet light with a simple optical design that can be readily implemented on existing direct imaging instruments that can feed light to an optical fiber. With its axially symmetric coupling region peaking within the inner working angle of conventional coronagraphs, VFN is more efficient at detecting new companions at small separations than conventional direct imaging, thereby increasing the yield of on-going exoplanet search campaigns. We deployed a VFN mode operating in K band (2.0 to 2.5 μm) on the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II Telescope. We present the instrument design of this first on-sky demonstration of VFN and the results from on-sky commissioning, including planet and star throughput measurements and predicted flux-ratio detection limits for close-in companions. The instrument performance is shown to be sufficient for detecting a companion 103 times fainter than a fifth magnitude host star in 1 h at a separation of 50 mas (1.1 λ / D). This makes the instrument capable of efficiently detecting substellar companions around young stars. We also discuss several routes for improvement that will reduce the required integration time for a detection by a factor >3.",

keywords = "exoplanets, fiber nulling, instrumentation, optical vortices, spectroscopy",

author = "Daniel Echeverri and Jerry Xuan and Nemanja Jovanovic and Garreth Ruane and Delorme, {Jacques Robert} and Dimitri Mawet and Bertrand Mennesson and Eugene Serabyn and Wallace, {J. Kent} and Jason Wang and Ruffio, {Jean Baptiste} and Luke Finnerty and Yinzi Xin and Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer and Ashley Baker and Randall Bartos and Benjamin Calvin and Sylvain Cetre and Greg Doppmann and Fitzgerald, {Michael P.} and Sofia Hillman and Katelyn Horstman and Hsu, {Chih Chun} and Joshua Liberman and Ronald Lopez and Evan Morris and Jacklyn Pezzato and Phillips, {Caprice L.} and Ren, {Bin B.} and Ben Sappey and Tobias Schofield and Skemer, {Andrew J.} and Connor Vancil and Ji Wang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).",

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doi = "10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002",

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Echeverri, D, Xuan, J, Jovanovic, N, Ruane, G, Delorme, JR, Mawet, D, Mennesson, B, Serabyn, E, Wallace, JK, Wang, J, Ruffio, JB, Finnerty, L, Xin, Y, Millar-Blanchaer, M, Baker, A, Bartos, R, Calvin, B, Cetre, S, Doppmann, G, Fitzgerald, MP, Hillman, S, Horstman, K, Hsu, CC, Liberman, J, Lopez, R, Morris, E, Pezzato, J, Phillips, CL, Ren, BB, Sappey, B, Schofield, T, Skemer, AJ, Vancil, C & Wang, J 2023, 'Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations: implementation and first light', Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, vol. 9, no. 3, 035002. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002

TY - JOUR

T1 - Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations

T2 - implementation and first light

AU - Echeverri, Daniel

AU - Xuan, Jerry

AU - Jovanovic, Nemanja

AU - Ruane, Garreth

AU - Delorme, Jacques Robert

AU - Mawet, Dimitri

AU - Mennesson, Bertrand

AU - Serabyn, Eugene

AU - Wallace, J. Kent

AU - Wang, Jason

AU - Ruffio, Jean Baptiste

AU - Finnerty, Luke

AU - Xin, Yinzi

AU - Millar-Blanchaer, Maxwell

AU - Baker, Ashley

AU - Bartos, Randall

AU - Calvin, Benjamin

AU - Cetre, Sylvain

AU - Doppmann, Greg

AU - Fitzgerald, Michael P.

AU - Hillman, Sofia

AU - Horstman, Katelyn

AU - Hsu, Chih Chun

AU - Liberman, Joshua

AU - Lopez, Ronald

AU - Morris, Evan

AU - Pezzato, Jacklyn

AU - Phillips, Caprice L.

AU - Ren, Bin B.

AU - Sappey, Ben

AU - Schofield, Tobias

AU - Skemer, Andrew J.

AU - Vancil, Connor

AU - Wang, Ji

PY - 2023/7/1

Y1 - 2023/7/1

N2 - Vortex fiber nulling (VFN) is a single-aperture interferometric technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanets separated from their host star by less than a diffracted beam width. VFN uses a vortex mask and single-mode fiber to selectively reject starlight while coupling off-axis planet light with a simple optical design that can be readily implemented on existing direct imaging instruments that can feed light to an optical fiber. With its axially symmetric coupling region peaking within the inner working angle of conventional coronagraphs, VFN is more efficient at detecting new companions at small separations than conventional direct imaging, thereby increasing the yield of on-going exoplanet search campaigns. We deployed a VFN mode operating in K band (2.0 to 2.5 μm) on the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II Telescope. We present the instrument design of this first on-sky demonstration of VFN and the results from on-sky commissioning, including planet and star throughput measurements and predicted flux-ratio detection limits for close-in companions. The instrument performance is shown to be sufficient for detecting a companion 103 times fainter than a fifth magnitude host star in 1 h at a separation of 50 mas (1.1 λ / D). This makes the instrument capable of efficiently detecting substellar companions around young stars. We also discuss several routes for improvement that will reduce the required integration time for a detection by a factor >3.

AB - Vortex fiber nulling (VFN) is a single-aperture interferometric technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanets separated from their host star by less than a diffracted beam width. VFN uses a vortex mask and single-mode fiber to selectively reject starlight while coupling off-axis planet light with a simple optical design that can be readily implemented on existing direct imaging instruments that can feed light to an optical fiber. With its axially symmetric coupling region peaking within the inner working angle of conventional coronagraphs, VFN is more efficient at detecting new companions at small separations than conventional direct imaging, thereby increasing the yield of on-going exoplanet search campaigns. We deployed a VFN mode operating in K band (2.0 to 2.5 μm) on the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II Telescope. We present the instrument design of this first on-sky demonstration of VFN and the results from on-sky commissioning, including planet and star throughput measurements and predicted flux-ratio detection limits for close-in companions. The instrument performance is shown to be sufficient for detecting a companion 103 times fainter than a fifth magnitude host star in 1 h at a separation of 50 mas (1.1 λ / D). This makes the instrument capable of efficiently detecting substellar companions around young stars. We also discuss several routes for improvement that will reduce the required integration time for a detection by a factor >3.

KW - exoplanets

KW - fiber nulling

KW - instrumentation

KW - optical vortices

KW - spectroscopy

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DO - 10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.035002

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SN - 2329-4124

VL - 9

JO - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

JF - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

IS - 3

M1 - 035002

ER -

Vortex fiber nulling for exoplanet observations: implementation and first light

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