Experimental Demonstration of a Quantum-Optimal Coronagraph Using Spatial Mode Sorters
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866916718588198912 |
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| author | Deshler, Nico Ozer, Itay Ashok, Amit Guha, Saikat |
| author_facet | Deshler, Nico Ozer, Itay Ashok, Amit Guha, Saikat |
| contents | Deep sub-diffraction exoplanet discovery currently lies beyond the reach of state-of-the-art direct imaging coronagraphs, which typically have an inner working angle larger than the diffraction scale. We present an experimental demonstration of a direct imaging coronagraph design capable of achieving the quantum limits of exoplanet detection and localization below the Rayleigh diffraction limit. Our benchtop implementation performs a forward and inverse pass through a free-space programmable spatial mode sorter configured to isolate photons in a point spread function (PSF)-adapted mode basis. During the forward pass, the fundamental mode is rejected, effectively eliminating light from an on-axis point-like star. On the inverse pass, the remaining modes are coherently recombined to form an image of a faint companion. Our experimental system is shown localizing an artificial exoplanet at sub-diffraction distances from its host star under a 1000:1 star-planet contrast. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_12776 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Experimental Demonstration of a Quantum-Optimal Coronagraph Using Spatial Mode Sorters Deshler, Nico Ozer, Itay Ashok, Amit Guha, Saikat Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Quantum Physics Deep sub-diffraction exoplanet discovery currently lies beyond the reach of state-of-the-art direct imaging coronagraphs, which typically have an inner working angle larger than the diffraction scale. We present an experimental demonstration of a direct imaging coronagraph design capable of achieving the quantum limits of exoplanet detection and localization below the Rayleigh diffraction limit. Our benchtop implementation performs a forward and inverse pass through a free-space programmable spatial mode sorter configured to isolate photons in a point spread function (PSF)-adapted mode basis. During the forward pass, the fundamental mode is rejected, effectively eliminating light from an on-axis point-like star. On the inverse pass, the remaining modes are coherently recombined to form an image of a faint companion. Our experimental system is shown localizing an artificial exoplanet at sub-diffraction distances from its host star under a 1000:1 star-planet contrast. |
| title | Experimental Demonstration of a Quantum-Optimal Coronagraph Using Spatial Mode Sorters |
| topic | Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12776 |