Calculation of signal-to-noise ratio for image formation using multispectral intensity correlation

David Hyland

doi:10.1117/12.731795

19 September 2007 Calculation of signal-to-noise ratio for image formation using multispectral intensity correlation

David Hyland

Proceedings Volume 6693, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets III; 66930O (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.731795
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

In previous work, we explored the possibility of using intensity correlation techniques, based upon the Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect to perform fine resolution imaging in the service of exoplanet astronomy. Here we consider a multi-spectral variant of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss technique. At each of a number of independent, light-gathering telescopes photodetection data encompassing each of a set of frequency channels are obtained and then are communicated to some convenient computational station. At the computational station, the correlations among the photodetections in each of the frequency bands are time averaged and then further averaged over the various frequency channels to arrive at measurements of the mutual coherence magnitude for each pair of telescopes. From these statistics, imaging data are, in turn, computed via phase retrieval techniques. Here, within a modern quantum optics framework, we examine the signal-to-noise characteristics of the coherence estimates obtained in this way under a variety of non-ideal conditions. We provide step-by-step derivations of the statistical quantities needed in a largely self-contained treatment. In particular, we examine the effects of partial coherence on a scene typical of exoplanet imaging and show how partial coherence can be used to greatly attenuate the parent star. We find that the multispectral version of intensity interferometry greatly improves the signal-to-noise ratio in general and dramatically so for exoplanet detection. The results also extend the analysis of signal-to-noise to a wider variety of practical conditions and provide the basis for multispectral intensity correlation imaging system design.

Citation Download Citation

David Hyland "Calculation of signal-to-noise ratio for image formation using multispectral intensity correlation", Proc. SPIE 6693, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets III, 66930O (19 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.731795

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