Towards the experimental validation of the non-linear dark hole on the THD bench
Résumé
New space missions dedicated to exoplanet imaging will rely on coronagraphs to address the high contrast between the stars and their environments. In order to avoid the image of planets to be lost in post-coronagraphic starlight residuals, high precision wavefront sensing and control is a key element to these missions. We present recent results of simultaneous post-coronagraphic phase and amplitude sensing obtained on the THD bench using the coronagraphic phase diversity. We also present results of simulation studies on the non-linear dark hole technique to assess the main limitations of this technique. Finally, we present a first experimental validation of its principle and corroborate expectations on its speed of convergence. These results suggest that the non-linear dark hole is a good candidate for wave-front control for future space-based exoplanet imaging missions, where fast techniques to produce deep dark holes are of paramount importance.