A stable and inexpensive wavelength reference for precise wavelength calibration of radial velocity spectrographs

Tobias Feger*, Michael J. Ireland, Joao Bento, Carlos Bacigalupo

*Corresponding author for this work

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

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We present a stable, inexpensive wavelength reference, based on a white-light interferometer for the use on current and future (arrays of) diffraction-limited radial velocity (RV) spectrographs. The primary aim of using an interferometer is to obtain a dense sinusoidal wavelength reference with spectral coverage between 450-650 nm. Its basic setup consists of an unbalanced fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FMZI) that creates an interference pattern in the spectral domain due to superposition of phase delayed light, set by a fixed optical path-length difference (OPD). To achieve long-term stability, the interferometer is actively locked to a stable atomic line. The system operates in closed-loop using a thermo-optic modulator as the phase feedback component. We conducted stability measurements by superimposing the wavelength reference with thorium-argon (ThAr) emission lines and found the differential RMS shift to be ∼5 m s-1 within 30 minute bins in an experiment lasting 5 hours.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V
    EditorsSuzanne K. Ramsay, Ian S. McLean, Hideki Takami
    PublisherSPIE
    ISBN (Electronic)9780819496157
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014
    EventGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V - Montreal, Canada
    Duration: 22 Jun 201426 Jun 2014

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
    Volume9147
    ISSN (Print)0277-786X
    ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

    Conference

    ConferenceGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityMontreal
    Period22/06/1426/06/14

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