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We present the fabrication and optical testing of a fine grating on a ZnS substrate to be used as a wideband infrared spectral disperser and for which the primary application is measurement of the composition of the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets using space-borne infrared astronomical telescopes. A grating with a blaze angle of 2.1 deg. and pitch of 166.667 midron was constructed on a roughly flat 10 mm x 10 mm substrate with a maximum thickness of 1 mm. To obtain high accuracy, the sample was fabricated on a ZnS monocrystal using a high performance processing machine at Canon Inc. The surface roughness measured with a microscope interferometer was 2.6 nm rms. The shape of the fabricated grating edges was examined with a scanning electron microscope. The diffraction efficiency was evaluated by optical experiments at {lambda} = 633 nm, 980 nm, and 1550 nm, and compared with the efficiencies calculated using a Fourier Modal Method. The results showed that the differences between the diffraction efficiencies obtained from experiment and by calculation were between just 0.9 % and 2.4 %. We concluded that the quality of the fabricated ZnS grating was sufficiently high to provide excellent diffraction efficiency for use in the infrared wavelength region. We also present the design of a spectral disperser in CdTe for future more advanced performance.
We present the results of a study along with a first prototype of a high precision system (? 1 arcsec) for pointing and tracking light (near-infrared) telescopes on board stratospheric balloons. Such a system is essentially composed by a star sensor
Transit-spectroscopy of exoplanets is one of the key observational techniques to characterize the extrasolar planet and its atmosphere. The observational challenges of these measurements require dedicated instrumentation and only the space environmen
We present a vacuum window mechanism that is useful for applications requiring two different vacuum windows in series, with one of them movable and resealable. Such applications include space borne instruments that can benefit from a thin vacuum wind
We present a method for attaining sub-arcsecond pointing stability during sub- orbital balloon flights, as designed for in the High Altitude Lensing Observatory (HALO) concept. The pointing method presented here has the potential to perform near-spac
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Consortium is developing the new generation of ground observatories for the detection of ultra-high energy gamma-rays. The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is participating to the R&D of a possible solut