First light of the vortex fiber nulling mode on the Keck planet imager and characterizer

Daniel Echeverri; Jerry Xuan; Nemanja Jovanovic; Jacques-Robert Delorme; Garreth Ruane; Sofia Hillman; Dimitri Mawet; J. Kent Wallace; Bertrand Mennesson; Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer

doi:10.1117/12.2677656

5 October 2023 First light of the vortex fiber nulling mode on the Keck planet imager and characterizer

Daniel Echeverri, Jerry Xuan, Nemanja Jovanovic, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Garreth Ruane, Sofia Hillman, Dimitri Mawet, J. Kent Wallace, Bertrand Mennesson, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12680, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI; 126800M (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677656
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Vortex Fiber Nulling (VFN) is a technique for suppressing starlight to observe exoplanets at small angular separations from their star, ≲ 1λ/D. This technique may enable the discovery and characterization of young giant planets at separations smaller than conventional coronagraphs can reach. A VFN mode was deployed to the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II telescope in February 2022 and is now operational on-sky. This marks the first on-sky demonstration of VFN. The mode has achieved on-sky starlight rejection of ⪅ 1 × 10⁻² in K-band and is primarily limited by residual wavefront error from the adaptive optics system. The current VFN performance enables KPIC to efficiently search for new companions at separations of 20 to 80 mas from their host star whereas the alternative observing mode requires precise, prior knowledge of the companion position. Here we present the latest results from the KPIC VFN mode. We also present the predicted performance improvement from an upcoming upgrade to switch the current charge two vortex mask with a new charge one which can target smaller separations and will double the planet throughput.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Daniel Echeverri, Jerry Xuan, Nemanja Jovanovic, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Garreth Ruane, Sofia Hillman, Dimitri Mawet, J. Kent Wallace, Bertrand Mennesson, and Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer "First light of the vortex fiber nulling mode on the Keck planet imager and characterizer", Proc. SPIE 12680, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI, 126800M (5 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677656

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available