title: Fresnel rhombs as achromatic phase shifters for infrared nulling interferometry.
abstract: We propose a new family of achromatic phase shifters for infrared nulling interferometry. These key optical components can be seen as optimized Fresnel rhombs, using the total internal reflection phenomenon, modulated or not. The total internal reflection indeed comes with a phase shift between the polarization components of the incident light. We propose a solution to implement this vectorial phase shift between interferometer arms to provide the destructive interference process needed to disentangle highly contrasted objects from one another. We also show that, modulating the index transition at the total internal reflection interface allows compensating for the intrinsic material dispersion in order to make the subsequent phase shift achromatic over especially broad bands. The modulation can be induced by a thin film of a well-chosen material or a subwavelength grating whose structural parameters are thoroughly optimized. We present results from theoretical simulations together with preliminary fabrication outcomes and measurements for a prototype in Zinc Selenide.
authors: Dimitri
authors: D
authors: Mawet
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Hanot
authors: Cédric
authors: C
authors: Lenaers
authors: Pierre
authors: P
authors: Riaud
authors: Denis
authors: D
authors: Defrère
authors: Denis
authors: D
authors: Vandormael
authors: Jérôme
authors: J
authors: Loicq
authors: Karl
authors: K
authors: Fleury
authors: Jean-Yves
authors: JY
authors: Plesseria
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Surdej
authors: Serge
authors: S
authors: Habraken