Design and modelisation of a straylight facility for space optical instrument

in SPIE (Ed.) 2012 Optical system Design (in press)

In the framework of instrument calibration, straylight issues are a critical aspect that can deteriorate the optical performances of instrument. To cope with this, a new facility is designed dedicated for ... [more ▼]

In the framework of instrument calibration, straylight issues are a critical aspect that can deteriorate the optical performances of instrument. To cope with this, a new facility is designed dedicated for in-field and far field straylight characterization: up to 10-8 for in-field and up to 10-10 for far field straylight in the visible to NIR spectral ranges. Moreover, from previous straylight test performed at CSL, vacuum conditions are needed for reaching the 10-10 rejection requirement mainly to avoid air/dust diffusion. The major constrains are to design a straylight facility either for in-field and out-field straylight measurements. That requires high dynamic range at source level and a high radiance point source allowing small diverging collimated beam. Moreover, the straylight facility has to be implemented into a limited envelope and has to be built with vacuum compatible materials and black coating. As checking the facility performance requires an instrument better than the facility itself, that is no easy to find, so that the performances have been estimated through a modelisation into a non sequential optical software. This modelisation is based on CAD importation of mechanical design, on BRDF characteristics of black coating and on statistical averaging of ray tracing at instrument entrance. [less ▲]

Ultrathin EUV Filters Testing and Characterization under High Flux (13 SC) for Solar Orbiter EUI Instrument

Conference (2011, October 07)

The test setup and characterization parameters of ultrathin EUV filters under high solar flux are presented. These 150nm thick aluminium filters are used at the entrance of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager ... [more ▼]

The test setup and characterization parameters of ultrathin EUV filters under high solar flux are presented. These 150nm thick aluminium filters are used at the entrance of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) payload, which is developed at the Centre Spatial de Liège for the Solar Orbiter ESA M-class mission. The solar flux that they shall have to withstand will be as high as 13 solar constants when the spacecraft reach its 0.28AU perihelion. A specific design based on additional ribs has therefore been developed to enhance the thermal behaviour and heat evacuation while preserving its optical properties. It is essential to assess the design performances under the Solar Orbiter high solar flux. Therefore, thermal vacuum test under 13 solar constants will be performed. The filters temperature profiles will be measured during the tests through infrared imaging. A thermal correlation of the test will then be performed to deduce the filters actual thermal properties to be used in the global instrument geometrical and thermal mathematical models. [less ▲]

Optical calibration of the FUV spectrographic imager for the IMAGE mission

in Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series (1999, October 01)

The FUV Spectrographic Imager for IMAGE is simultaneously imaging auroras at 1218 and 1358 angstrom. It is designed to efficiently reject the Lyman-(alpha) emission line at 1215.7 angstrom. This paper ... [more ▼]

The FUV Spectrographic Imager for IMAGE is simultaneously imaging auroras at 1218 and 1358 angstrom. It is designed to efficiently reject the Lyman-(alpha) emission line at 1215.7 angstrom. This paper describes the optical calibration. The content is: 1) field of view calibration: detector pixels location with respect to the reference optical cube; distortion matrix used to computer the TDI. b) Radiometric calibration: detector response and linearity; instrument throughput according to its clear aperture and mirror reflection lost; response vs. wavelength and band-rejection certification. [less ▲]