Development of an Integral Field Spectrograph to Advance High Contrast Imaging Technologies

We propose to design a high performance laboratory Goddard IFS that can be couple with the ExEP HCIT. This work will produce 1) a baseline design for the IFS, 2) a realistic budget and schedule for the instrument development, (3)laboratory tests of a lenslet array similar to the one that will be used in the system, and 4) a winning TDEM to support the development of this instrument concept.

There are several key parameters that will be studied through simulation, including 1) controlling spatial and spectral crosstalk on the detector, determining the proper spectral resolution and bandpass to meet both science and speckle removal constraints, 3) characterizing the instrument throughput and the required source brightness at the ExEP HCIT, 4) designing a compact system that will fit above the ExEP HCIT bench, and 5) investigating calibration techniques for the data cube properties. We will 1) design a specialized lenslet array for high contrast imaging that reduces scattered light and 2) design a compact IFS that will fit within the HCIT vacuum chamber