Optical Verification Experiments Of Sub-Scale Starshades

Starshades are a leading technology to enable the detection and spectroscopic characterization of Earth-like exoplanets. We report on optical experiments of sub-scale starshades that advance critical starlight suppression technologies in preparation for the next generation of space telescopes. These experiments were conducted at the Princeton starshade testbed, an 80-m long enclosure testing 1/1000'th scale starshades at a flight-like Fresnel number. We demonstrate 10(-)(10) contrast at the starshade's geometric inner working angle (IWA) across 10% of the visible spectrum, with an average contrast at the IWA of 2 x 10(-)(10) and contrast floor of 2 x 10(-11). In addition to these high-contrast demonstrations, we validate diffraction models to better than 35% accuracy through tests of intentionally flawed starshades. Overall, this suite of experiments reveals a deviation from scalar diffraction theory due to light propagating through narrow gaps between the starshade petals. We provide a model that accurately captures this effect at contrast levels below 10(-)(10). The results of these experiments demonstrate that there are no optical impediments to building a starshade that provides sufficient contrast to detect Earth-like exoplanets. This work also sets an upper limit on the effect of unknowns in the diffraction model used to predict starshade performance and set tolerances on the starshade manufacture. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License.