Polarization interferometric nulling coronagraph for high-contrast imaging

We propose a novel, high-contrast imager called a polarization interferometric nulling coronagraph (PINC) for direct detection of extrasolar planets. The PINC uses achromatic half-wave plates (HWPs) installed in a fully symmetric beam combiner based on polarizing beam splitters. Jones calculus suggests that a stellar halo suppression level of 10(-10) can be achieved at 5 lambda/D for a broad wavelength range from 1.6 to 2.2 mu m by using Fresnel-rhomb HWPs made of BK7. Laboratory experiments on the PINC used two laser light sources (wavelengths of lambda = 532 and 671 nm), and we obtained a halo suppression level of approximately 10(-6) at 5 lambda/D for both wavelengths. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America