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The Keck Planet Finder (KPF) is a fiber-fed, high-resolution, high-stability spectrometer in development at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory for the W.M. Keck Observatory. KPF is designed to characterize exoplanets via Doppler spectroscopy with a goal of a single measurement precision of 0.3 m s-1 or better, however its resolution and stability will enable a wide variety of astrophysical pursuits. Here we provide post-preliminary design review design updates for several subsystems, including: the main spectrometer, the fabrication of the Zerodur optical bench; the data reduction pipeline; fiber agitator; fiber cable design; fiber scrambler; VPH testing results and the exposure meter.

Precise wavelength calibration is a critical issue for high-resolution spectroscopic observations. The ideal calibration source should be able to provide a very stable and dense grid of evenly distributed spectral lines of constant intensity. A new method which satisfies all mentioned conditions has been developed by our group. The approach is to actively measure the exact position of a single spectral line of a Fabry-Perot etalon with very high precision with a wavelength-tuneable laser and compare it to an extremely stable wavelength standard. The ideal choice of standard is the D2 absorption line of Rubidium, which has been used as an optical frequency standard for decades. With this technique, the problem of stable wavelength calibration of spectrographs becomes a problem of how reliably we can measure and anchor one etalon line to the Rb transition. In this work we present our self-built module for Rb saturated absorption spectroscopy and discuss its stability., SPIE ANZCOP conference, Melbourne 2019

Accurate wavelength calibration is crucial for attaining superior Doppler precision with high resolution spectrographs. Upcoming facilities aim for 10 cm/s or better radial velocity precision to access the discovery space for Earth-like exoplanets. To achieve such precision over timescales of years, currently used wavelength cal- ibrators such as thorium-argon lamps and iodine cells will need to be replaced by more precise and stable sources. The ideal wavelength calibrator would produce an array of lines that are uniformly spaced, narrower than the spectrograph resolution, of equal brightness, cover the entire wavelength range of the spectrograph, and whose frequencies do not change with time. Laser frequency combs are an extremely accurate and stable, albeit technically challenging and costly, option that has received much attention recently. We present an alter- native method that uses a Fabry-Perot (FP) etalon illuminated by a white light source to produce a comb-like spectrum over a wide wavelength range. Previous work focused on the development of passively stabilized FP etalons for wavelength calibration. We improve on this method by locking the etalon to an atomic transition, the frequency of which is known to < 2 x 10-11.7 We use a diode laser to observe both the rubidium (Rb) D2 transition at 780 nm and the etalon transmission spectrum. Saturated absorption spectroscopy is used to resolve the Rb hyperfine lines and precisely determine their locations. Since the etalon spectrum is probed with the same laser, the etalon can be locked by ensuring that one of its transmission peaks coincides with a particular Rb hyperfine peak (via either temperature tuning or a piezoelectric transducer incorporated into the etalon). By measuring the frequency of one etalon peak directly via comparison with the Rb, we remove any drifts or aging effects of the etalon that could cause problems for passively stabilized etalon references. We demonstrate a locking precision that is equivalent to a Doppler precision of 3 cm/s RMS. Our setup is simple and robust, can be used with various etalons, and works in the infrared as well as the visible part of the spectrum. The combination of low cost, ease of use, and high precision make this calibration system an attractive option for new spectrographs and as a retrofit for existing facilities.

We have developed an optical design for a high resolution spectrograph in response to NASA’s call for an extreme precision Doppler spectrometer (EPDS) for the WIYN telescope. Our instrument covers a wavelength range of 380 to 930 nm using a single detector and with a resolution of 100,000. To deliver the most stable spectrum, we avoid the use of an image slicer, in favor of a large (195 mm diameter) beam footprint on a 1x2 mosaic R4 Echelle grating. The optical design is based on a classic white pupil layout, with a single parabolic mirror that is used as the main and transfer collimator. Cross dispersion is provided by a single large PBM2Y glass prism. The refractive camera consists of only four rotationally symmetric lenses made from i-Line glasses, yet delivers very high image quality over the full spectral bandpass. We present the optical design of the main spectrograph bench and discuss the design trade-offs and expected performance.