The shaped pupil coronagraph for planet finding coronagraphy: optimization, sensitivity, and laboratory testing

This paper summarizes our work designing optimal shaped pupils for high-contrast imaging. We show how any effective apodization can be created using shaped pupils and present a variety of both one-dimensional and azimuthally symmetric pupil shapes. Each pupil has its own performance advantage and we discuss the tradeoffs among various designs. Optimizations are typically performed by maximizing a measure of system throughput under constraints on contrast and inner working angle. We mention the question of sensitivity to aberrations. Controlling aberrations will be critical for any implementation of a planet-finding coronagraph. Finally, we present our first laboratory results testing a shaped pupil coronagraph.