The problem of scattering in fibre-fed VPH spectrographs and possible solutions

S. C. Ellis*, Will Saunders, Chris Betters, Scott Croom

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

All spectrographs unavoidably scatter light. Scattering in the spectral direction is problematic for sky subtraction, since atmospheric spectral lines are blurred. Scattering in the spatial direction is problematic for fibre fed spectrographs, since it limits how closely fibres can be packed together. We investigate the nature of this scattering and show that the scattering wings have both a Lorentzian component, and a shallower (1/r) component. We investigate the causes of this from a theoretical perspective, and argue that for the spectral PSF the Lorentzian wings are in part due to the profile of the illumination of the pupil of the spectrograph onto the diffraction grating, whereas the shallower component is from bulk scattering. We then investigate ways to mitigate the diffractive scattering by apodising the pupil. In the ideal case of a Gaussian apodised pupil, the scattering can be significantly improved. Finally we look at realistic models of the spectrograph pupils of fibre fed spectrographs with a centrally obstructed telescope, and show that it is possible to apodise the pupil through non-telecentric injection into the fibre.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation
EditorsRamón Navarro, Colin R. Cunningham, Allison A. Barto
PublisherSPIE
Pages1-14
Number of pages14
Volume9151
ISBN (Electronic)9780819496195
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014
Externally publishedYes
EventAdvances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 23 Jun 201427 Jun 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE
PublisherSPIE
Volume9151
ISSN (Print)0277-786X

Conference

ConferenceAdvances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period23/06/1427/06/14

Keywords

  • Fibres
  • Scattering
  • Spectroscopy
  • Stray light

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