Compensation and optimization of dispersion in nulling interferometry

The optical properties of materials are wavelength-dependent. This property, called dispersion, affects the performance of a wide-band nulling interferometer by inducing wavelength-dependent phase differences between the arms of the interferometer. In this paper, we analyze the influence of dispersion in nulling interferometers for exoplanet...

The role of amplitude, phase, polarization and their interconnection in nulling interferometry

Nulling interferometry is a promising technique to directly detect Earth-like exoplanets. Unfortunately, it is extremely challenging to build a nulling interferometer and to meet the requirements needed for Earth-like planet detection. In this, thesis, we analyze the role of amplitude, phase and polarization in nulling interferometry and we use...

Vectorial analysis of polarization issues in multi-axial nulling interferometers for exoplanet detection

We show the theoretical limitations of a multi-axial nulling interferometer with respect to longitudinal polarization. We furthermore analyze the filtering capabilities of a single-mode fiber in this case.

Design of a polarization nulling interferometer for exoplanet detection

We present the design of a new testbed experiment to demonstrate nulling interferometry using polarization properties. This three-beam set-up is perfectly symmetric with respect to the number of reflections and transmissions and should therefore allow a high rejection ratio in a wide spectral band.