Off-axis parabolas super polished under stress: the case of the Roman Space Telescope coronagraphic instrument mirrors.

Direct imaging of exoplanets requires high contrast imaging techniques that demand tight tolerances on the optical surface error. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) (previously named WFIRST) aims to perform direct imaging of SuperEarth-like exoplanets through its active coronographic instrument (CGI). Eight off-axis parabola (OAP) mirrors are utilised within the CGI to create a compact instrument and to ensure access to the pupil and focal planes.

Curved detectors for astronomical applications: characterization results on different samples.

Due to the increasing dimension, complexity, and cost of future astronomical surveys, new technologies enabling more compact and simpler systems are required. The development of curved detectors allows enhancement of the performances of the optical system used (telescope or astronomical instrument), while keeping the system more compact. We describe here a set of five curved complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) detectors developed within a collaboration between CEA-LETI and CNRS-LAM.

Design of optical systems with toroidal curved detectors.

We consider using toroidal curved detectors to improve the performance of imaging optical systems. We demonstrate that some optical systems have an anamorphic field curvature. We consider an unobscured reimaging three-mirror anastigmat as an example (f=960  mm, F/5.