Due to an increasing demand for higher data rates and more secure communications, free-space optical communication (FSOC) has already shown to be a technology that could be a crucial part of future communication networks.¹ The higher bandwidth, directivity, and security, as well as lower power and mass requirements, make FSOC an interesting alternative to radiofrequency communication. The applications of this technology range from solving the last mile problem² to deep-space optical communications (DSOC).^3,4

Asgard/NOTT (previously Hi-5) is a European Research Council (ERC)-funded project hosted at KU Leuven and a new visitor instrument for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Its primary goal is to image the snow line region around young stars using nulling interferometry in the L′-band (3.5 to 4.0) μm, where the contrast between exoplanets and their host stars is advantageous. The breakthrough is the use of a photonic beam combiner, which only recently allowed the required theoretical raw contrast of 10−3 in this spectral range. Nulling interferometry observations of exoplanets also require a high degree of balancing between the four pupils of the VLTI in terms of intensity, phase, and polarization. The injection into the beam combiner and the requirements of nulling interferometry are driving the design of the warm optics and the injection system. The optical design up to the beam combiner is presented. It offers a technical solution to efficiently couple the light from the VLTI into the beam combiner. During the coupling, the objective is to limit throughput losses to 5% of the best expected efficiency for the injection. To achieve this, a list of different loss sources is considered with their respective impact on the injection efficiency. Solutions are also proposed to meet the requirements of beam balancing for intensity, phase, and polarization. The different properties of the design are listed, including the optics used, their alignment and tolerances, and their impact on the instrumental performances in terms of throughput and null depth. The performance evaluation gives an expected throughput loss <6.4% of the best efficiency for the injection and a null depth of ∼2.10−3, mainly from optical path delay errors outside the scope of this work.

The flagship monthly journal of SPIE, Optical Engineering (OE) publishes peer-reviewed papers reporting on research and development in all areas of optics, photonics, and imaging science and engineering.

<!-- *** Custom HTML *** --> Space-based nulling interferometry is one of the most promising solutions to spectrally characterize the atmosphere of rocky exoplanets in the mid-infrared (3 to 20 μm). It provides both high angular resolution and starlight mitigation. This observing capability depends on several technologies. A CubeSat (up to 20 kg) or a medium satellite (up to a few hundreds of kg), using a Bracewell architecture on a single spacecraft could be an adequate technological precursor to a larger, flagship mission. Beyond technical challenges, the scientific return of such a small-scale mission needs to be assessed. We explore the exoplanet science cases for various missions (several satellite configurations and sizes). Based on physical parameters (diameter and wavelength) and thanks to a state-of-the-art planet population synthesis tool, the performance and the possible exoplanet detection yield of these configurations are presented. Without considering platform stability constraints, a CubeSat (baseline of b ≃ 1 m and pupils diameter of D ≃ 0.1 m) could detect ≃7 Jovian exoplanets, a small satellite (b ≃ 5 m / D ≃ 0.25 m) ≃120 exoplanets, whereas a medium satellite (b ≃ 12.5 m / D ≃ 0.5 m) could detect ∼250 exoplanets including 51 rocky planets within 20 pc. To complete our study, an analysis of the platform stability constraints (tip/tilt and optical path difference) is performed. Exoplanet studies impose very stringent requirements on both tip/tilt and OPD control.

Large-area top-emitting PIN structure (highly p- and n- type doped transport layers for electrons and holes and an undoped emitter layer)–organic light-emitting diode (OLED) on advanced metal foils were fabricated for lighting applications. ArcelorMittal has developed a new surface treatment on metal foils, suitable for roll-to-roll production and dedicated to large-area device integration. Both monochromatic and white devices are realized on advanced metal foils. Power efficiencies at 1000 cd/m² of >70 lm/W (green), moreover, power efficiency of white devices of >22 lm/W are achieved. Furthermore, first large-area 60 × 60 cm white OLED sources on metal foils are presented.

Context. The extreme ultraviolet High-Resolution Imager (HRI_EUV) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) telescope on board Solar Orbiter observes the solar corona in an ~5 Å wide passband near 174 Å with unprecedented high spatial resolution. Aims. We aim to perform radiometric cross-calibration of the HRI_EUV and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) telescope in order to allow further mutual analyses of the observational data. Methods. We applied a differential emission measure analysis using quasi-simultaneous images taken in seven spectral channels –HRI_EUV and six channels of AIA – and compared the real and the simulated images. Results. The comparison suggests that the real HRI_EUV images have ~40% larger signal than the simulated images predicted by the differential emission measure analysis. Conclusions. With our method we cannot conclude which instrument has errors in the absolute calibration, as it can be the case for either of them or both of them simultaneously, but to a lesser degree. However, in order to improve the accuracy of simultaneous data analysis, one needs to take this discrepancy into account. We see that introduction of the HRI_EUV signal into the DEM analysis modifies the warm plasma with 1 MK. The ability of the method to reproduce HRI_EUV images using only the AIA data further validates the underlying assumptions and our approach. Lastly, we believe the approach can be used as a strategy to establish a golden reference of contemporary EUV imagers.