Samantha Morrison

CHARM: The CHARA Array Response Model

CHARM is a python-based end-to-end simulator of a photonic nulling beam combiner at CHARA. CHARM is the first end-to-end simulation built for the CHARA Array. It simulates a photonic nulling beam combiner placed at CHARA to test the feasibility of specific observations.

CHARM incorporates a flexible aberration model that deals with phase and amplitude errors including aberrated wavefronts, OPD errors, or imperfect transmission coupling. The noise model accounts for stellar leakage, photon noise, read noise, and dark current. The simulator can be used to test the performance of different beam combiner architectures and to test engineering trade offs for specific scientific goals.

For more information about CHARM, stay tuned for my upcoming paper.

On-sky testing of novel photonic devices

Our group also performs lab characterization and on-sky integration of photonic integrated circuit instruments. We are maturing the requisite technologies in preparation for science operations using photonic instruments. In the photo is a fully packaged photonic instrument called TRIP-P, which stands for Thirty Thousand Resolution Integrated Photonic spectrograph at Palomar.

For more information about TRIP-P, check out our lab website.