Institut national de recherche scientifique français Univerité Pierre et Marie Curie Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7

Photonics, astrophysics, and mid-infrared glass

mardi 29 novembre 2022, par Harry Kenchington Goldsmith (LESIA)

Jeudi 1er dĂ©cembre 2022 à 16h00 , Lieu : Salle de rĂ©union du bâtiment 16 et visioconfĂ©rence

Direct imaging of exoplanets promises the detection of new worlds in the habitable zone around distant stars. Interferometry uses multiple, or one-segmented, telescopes to make direct observations of exoplanets. In the mid-infrared the light of the star outshines the exoplanet by 8 orders of magnitude and interferometry can overcome this by nulling the star. New technologies in photonics may provide a pathway to do this. Photonics is the study of light guided and manipulated within transmissive materials. It has roots in the telecommunication industry and is now being used by astronomers in visible light and near-infrared light, with mid-infrared light to follow in the near future. The basic applications in astronomy are to move away from telescopes with large lab benches and environmentally sensitive fibre optics, to small and stable photonic chips. In this talk I will detail my work in mid-infrared photonics, highlighting the production of evaporatively deposited photonic chips and including specific issues with adapting photonic chips for astronomy applications, with the goal to create a nulling interferometer to detect exoplanets.