Development of Fiber Fabrey-Perot Interferometers as stable near-infrared calibration sources for high resolution spectrographs

Published

April 30, 2014

Author(s)

Samuel Halverson, Suvrath Mahadevan, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Fred Hearty, John C. Wilson , Jon Holtzman, Stephen L. Redman, Gillian Nave, David Nidever, Matthew Nelson, Nick Venditti, Dmitry Bizyaev , Scott Fleming

Abstract

We discuss the ongoing development of single-mode ber Fabry-Perot(FFP)Interferometers as precise astrophotonic calibration sources for high precision radial velocity (RV) spectrographs. The devices are simple, inexpensive, monolithic units that can yield a stable and repeatable output spectrum. An FFP is a unique alternative to a traditional etalon, as the interferometric cavity is made of single-mode ber rather than an air-gap spacer. This design allows for excellentcollimation, high spec-tral nesse, rigid mechanical stability, insensitivity to vibrations, and no need for vacuum operation. The FFP we have tested is a commercially available product from Micron Optics. Our develop-ment path is targeted towards a calibration source for the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder (HPF), a near-infrared spectrograph designed to detect terrestrial-mass planets around low-mass stars, but this reference could also be used in many existing and planned ber-fed spectrographs as we illustrate using the SDSS-III/APOGEE instrument. With precise temperature control of the FFP, we achieve a thermal stability that corresponds to 22 cm s..1 velocity stability. We achieve a precision of 2 m s..1 in a single APOGEE ber over 12 hours using this new photonic reference after removal of systematic correlations. This high precision (close to the expected photon-limited oor) is a testament to both the excellent intrinsic wavelength stability of the ber interferometer and the stability of the APOGEE instrument design.Overall instrument velocity precision is 80 cm s..1 over 12 hours when averaged over all 300 bers and after removal of known trends and pressure correlations, implying the etalon is intrinsically stable to signifi cantly higher precision. These tests also validate the fundamental soundness of the cryogenic enclosure design being adopted for precision RV instruments like HPF.

Citation

Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Volume

126

Issue

939

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1086/676649

Local Download

Keywords

radial velocities - instrumentation, Near-Infrared spectrograph design, wavelength references, fi ber spectrographs

Citation

Halverson, S. , Mahadevan, S. , Ramsey, L. , Hearty, F. , Wilson, J. , Holtzman, J. , Redman, S. , Nave, G. , Nidever, D. , Nelson, M. , Venditti, N. , Bizyaev, D. and Fleming, S. (2014), Development of Fiber Fabrey-Perot Interferometers as stable near-infrared calibration sources for high resolution spectrographs, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, [online], https://doi.org/10.1086/676649, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=915067 (Accessed October 21, 2025)