High-contrast Imaging with Fizeau Interferometry: the Case of Altair*
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E. Spalding↗
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Thermal expansion of graphite epoxy
Two optical techniques to measure the thermal expansion of fiber-reinforced composites are discussed. These techniques are moire interferometry and Fizeau interferometry. The pertinent features of each setup are presented and the preparation of the composite specimens discussed. Thermal expansion measurements in the range 116 to 422 K for 0 deg, 90 deg, and quasi-isotropic graphite-epoxy composite laminates are presented.
Hyer, M. W.↗
Steps Toward a Large Space-Based UV/Optical Fizeau Interferometer: The GSFC Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT)
Goddard Space Flight Center is pursuing the development of space-based, long-baseline (0.5km) UV-optical Fizeau imaging interferometers to enable the next major stride toward very high angular resolution astronomical observations. This effort includes the development and operation of the Fizeau Interferometry Testbed (FIT), in collaboration with the Naval Research Lab/NPOI, Univ. of MD, and Sigma Space Corporation. The FIT will be used to explore the principles of and requirements for the Stellar Imager (SI) mission concept (http://hires.gsfc.nasa.gov/~si) and other such Fizeau Interferometers/Sparse Aperture Telescope missions, leading in the end to the Planet Imager (PI), which is the ultimate goal of the current Origins Program. The primary goal of the FIT program is to demonstrate closed-loop control of mirrors (tip, tilt, piston, translation of array elements) and the overall system to keep the optical beams in phase and enable high quality imaging by a many-element (7-30) Fizeau Interferometric System. The FIT will also be used to assess various wave-front reconstruction and sensing and image reconstruction algorithms for utility and accuracy by application to real data generated by the Testbed. In this paper, we describe the design and goals of the system, provide a status report on its construction, and note our future plans.
Carpenter, K. G.↗
Dimensional stability of fused silica and several ultralow expansion materials
Description of a program of measurements of the dimensional stability of fused silica and several ultralow thermal expansion materials. The two techniques used are: (1) Fizeau interferometry employed by NBS-Corning, and (2) Fabry-Perot interferometry employed by the Optical Science Center, University of Arizona. In the latter, a measurement accuracy of one part in a billion is sought.
Jacobs, S. F.↗
Microscale Investigation of Thermo-Fluid Transport in the Transition FIL, Region of an Evaporating Capillary Meniscus Using a Microgravity Environment
In order to enhance the fundamental understanding of thin film evaporation and thereby improve the critical design concept for two-phase heat transfer devices, microscale heat and mass transport is to be investigated for the transition film region using state-of-the-art optical diagnostic techniques. By utilizing a microgravity environment, the length scales of the transition film region can be extended sufficiently, from submicron to micron, to probe and measure the microscale transport fields which are affected by intermolecular forces. Extension of the thin film dimensions under microgravity will be achieved by using a conical evaporator made of a thin silicon substrate under which concentric and individually controlled micro-heaters are vapor-deposited to maintain either a constant surface temperature or a controlled temperature variation. Local heat transfer rates, required to maintain the desired wall temperature boundary condition, will be measured and recorded by the concentric thermoresistance heaters controlled by a Wheatstone bridge circuit, The proposed experiment employs a novel technique to maintain a constant liquid volume and liquid pressure in the capillary region of the evaporating meniscus so as to maintain quasi-stationary conditions during measurements on the transition film region. Alternating use of Fizeau interferometry via white and monochromatic light sources will measure the thin film slope and thickness variation, respectively. Molecular Fluorescence Tracking Velocimetry (MFTV), utilizing caged fluorophores of approximately 10-nm in size as seeding particles, will be used to measure the velocity profiles in the thin film region. An optical sectioning technique using confocal microscopy will allow submicron depthwise resolution for the velocity measurements within the film for thicknesses on the order of a few microns. Digital analysis of the fluorescence image-displacement PDFs, as described in the main proposal, can further enhance the depthwise resolution.
Kihm, K. D.↗
History of Stellar Interferometry
This viewgraph presentation reviews the history of stellar interferometry from the suggestion of Fizeau that stellar interferometry was possible,to the use of the Mark I, II and III for astrometry. Photographs, and parts of original articles are presented.
Michelson↗
Optical Interferometry Motivation and History
A history and motivation of stellar interferometry is presented. The topics include: 1) On Tides, Organ Pipes, and Soap Bubbles; 2) Armand Hippolyte Fizeau (1819-1896); 3) Fizeau Suggests Stellar Interferometry 1867; 4) Edouard Stephan (1837-1923); 5) Foucault Refractor; 6) Albert A. Michelson (1852-1931); 7) On the Application of Interference Methods to Astronomy (1890); 8) Moons of Jupiter (1891); 9) Other Applications in 19th Century; 10) Timeline of Interferometry to 1938; 11) 30 years goes by; 12) Mount Wilson Observatory; 13) Michelson's 20 ft Interferometer; 14) Was Michelson Influenced by Fizeau? 15) Work Continues in the 1920s and 30s; 16) 50 ft Interferometer (1931-1938); 17) Light Paths in the 50 ft Interferometer; 18) Ground-level at the 50 ft; 19) F.G. Pease (1881-1938); 20) Timeline of Optical Interferometry to 1970; 21) A New Type of Stellar Interferometer (1956); 22) Intensity Interferometer (1963- 1976; 23) Robert Hanbury Brown; 24) Interest in Optical Interferometry in the 1960s; 25) Interferometry in the Early 1970s; and 26) A New Frontier is Opened up in 1974.
history↗
From Michelson and Fizeau to a Space-borne Infrared Instrument Capable of Detecting an Earth Twin: Development and Recent Accomplishments of Stellar Interferometry
In recent years, the evolution of technology has led to significant advances in high angular resolution astronomy and the precision of new observations. In particular, the interferometric combination of light from physically separated telescopes has shown both great promise and great challenge. We describe the first scientific results from the Keck Interferometer Nuller an instrument that combines the light of the two largest optical telescopes in the world in the context of the historic development of interferometry from its beginning in the work of Fizeau, Stephan and Michelson. We also describe our efforts to build a space-borne mid-infrared interferometer the Fourier Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) - for the characterization of exoplanets. We report results of a recent engineering study on an enhanced version of FKSI that includes 1-meter primary mirrors, 20-meter boom length, and an advanced sun shield that will provide a 45-degree FOR and 40K operating temperature for all optics, including siderostats, enabling the characterization of exozodiacal debris disks, extrasolar planets and other phenomena requiring extremely high spatial resolution. We are further investigating the possibility of characterizing the atmospheres of several super-Earths and a few Earth twins by a combination of spatial modulation and spectral analysis.
Barry, Richard K.↗
Phase-Synchronized Modal Testing of Mirror Membrane
The research reports on the development of a whole-field, system-level interferometry technique having phase-synchronized data acquisition and adjustable phase triggering. The technique utilizes a Fizeau interferometer, arbitrary function generator, oscilloscope, trigger filter, and CCD camera to determine the out-of-plane modal frequencies of a thin, highly reflective membrane. The technique generates phase-adjustable CCD camera trigger signals that are synchronized to the audio frequency excitation signal. The surface figures from the resulting interferograms were evaluated with fringe-following software and compared against that of an ideal membrane vibrating at resonance.
Rogers, Ted↗
Sub-pixel Spatial Resolution Micro-roughness Measurements with Interlaced Stitching
In this paper we describe a method to increase the spatial resolution of surface micro-roughness measurements. As the surface specifications for precision optics become more demanding, the metrology instruments must cover a broad spatial frequency range. Generally, multiple instruments are used to cover the full range of the specifications. For example, a Fizeau interferometer would be used to test low spatial frequency surface errors, a white light interferometer would be used for mid spatial frequency errors, and an AFM would be used for high spatial frequency errors. For some precision optics, three instruments would be necessary. However, in many applications, an increase in the spatial resolution of a metrology instrument could negate the need for multiple instruments. A solution to increase the spatial resolution of micro-roughness measurements obtained using white light interferometry with "interlaced stitching" will be presented. In "interlaced stitching", multiple interferometric measurements are made as the optic under test (or the CCD array) is laterally shifted at sub-pixel increments. The measurements are then combined to construct a measurement with higher spatial resolution. Initial results obtained while implementing a similar process used to increase the spatial resolution of measurements made with a commercially available Fizeau interferometer will be presented.
Mooney, James T.↗
Telescope Alignment From Sparsely Sampled Wavefront Measurements Over Pupil Subapertures
Alignment of two-element telescopes is a classic problem. During recent integration and test of the Space Interferometry Mission s (SIM s) Astrometric Beam Combiner (ABC), the innovators were faced with aligning two such telescope subsystems in the presence of a further complication: only two small subapertures in each telescope s pupil were accessible for measuring the wavefront with a Fizeau interferometer. This meant that the familiar aberrations that might be interpreted to infer system misalignments could be viewed only over small sub-regions of the pupil, making them hard to recognize. Further, there was no contiguous surface of the pupil connecting these two subapertures, so relative phase piston information was lost; the underlying full-aperture aberrations therefore had an additional degree of ambiguity. The solution presented here is to recognize that, in the absence of phase piston, the Zygo measurements primarily provide phase tilt in the subaperture windows of interest. Because these windows are small and situated far from the center of the (inaccessible) unobscured full aperture, any aberrations that are higher-order than tilt will be extremely high-order on the full aperture, and so not necessary or helpful to the alignment. Knowledge of the telescope s optical prescription allows straightforward evaluation of sensitivities (subap mode strength per unit full-aperture aberration), and these can be used in a predictive matrix approach to move with assurance to an aligned state. The technique is novel in every operational way compared to the standard approach of alignment based on full-aperture aberrations or searching for best rms wavefront. This approach is closely grounded in the observable quantities most appropriate to the problem. It is also more intuitive than inverting full phase maps (or subaperture Zernike spectra) with a ray-tracing program, which must certainly work in principle, but in practice met with limited success. Even if such classical alignment techniques became practical, the techniques reported here form a reassuringly transparent and intuitive check on the course of the alignment with very little computational effort.
Bloemhof, Eric E.↗
The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer Mission Concept
The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) is a mission concept for an imaging interferometer for the mid-infrared spectral region (5-30 microns). FKSI is conceived as a scientific and technological precursor to TPF as well as Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT), Submillimeter Probe Evolution of Cosmic Structure (SPECS), and Single Aperture for Infrared Observatory (SAFIR). It will also be a high angular resolution system complementary to Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST). The scientific emphasis of the mission is on the evolution of protostellar systems, from just after the collapse of the precursor molecular cloud core, through the formation of the disk surrounding the protostar, the formation of planets in the disk, and eventual dispersal of the disk material. FKSI will also search for brown dwarfs and Jupiter mass and smaller planets, and could also play a very powerful role in the investigation of the structure of active galactic nuclei and extra-galactic star formation. We are in the process of studying alternative interferometer architectures and beam combination techniques, and evaluating the relevant science and technology tradeoffs. Some of the technical challenges include the development of the cryocooler systems necessary for the telescopes and focal plane array, light and stiff but well-damped truss systems to support the telescopes, and lightweight and coolable optical telescopes. The goal of the design study is to determine if a mid-infrared interferometry mission can be performed within the cost and schedule requirements of a Discovery class mission. At the present time we envision the FKSI as comprised of five one meter diameter telescopes arranged along a truss structure in a linear non-redundant array, cooled to 35 K. A maximum baseline of 20 meters gives a nominal resolution of 26 mas at 5 microns. Using a Fizeau beam combination technique, a simple focal plane camera could be used to obtain both Fourier and spectral data simultaneously for a given orientation of the array. The spacecraft will be rotated to give sufficient Fourier data to reconstruct complex images of a broad range of astrophysical sources.
Danchi, W. C.↗
Introduction to the Sub-pixel Spatial Resolution Interferometry Process
In this paper we describe a method called "Sub-Pixel Spatial Resolution Interferometry" used to increase the spatial resolution of interferometric measurements of precision optical surfaces. In this process, multiple interferometric measurements are made as the optic under test (or the CCD array)in shifted at sub-pixel increments. The measurements are then combined to construct a measurement with higher spatial resolution than the original measurements. The process will be described and initial results obtained using this process with a commercially available Fizeau interferometer will be presented.
Mooney, James T.↗