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MAORY is a post-focal adaptive optics module that forms part of the first light instrument suite for the ELT. The main function of MAORY is to relay the light beam from the ELT focal plane to the client instrument while compensating the effects of the atmospheric turbulence and other disturbances affecting the wavefront from the scientific sources of interest.

The Adaptive Optics Module of MAVIS is a self-contained MCAO module, which delivers a corrected FoV to the postfocal scientific instruments, in the visible. The module aims to exploit the full potential of the ESO VLT UT4 Adaptive Optics Facility, which is composed of the high spatial frequency deformable secondary mirror and the laser guide stars launching and control systems. During the MAVIS Phase A, we evaluated, with the support of simulations and analysis at different levels, the main terms of the error budgets aiming at estimating the realistic AOM performance. After introducing the current opto-mechanical design and AO scheme of the AOM, we here present the standard wavefront error budget and the other budgets, including manufacturing, alignment of the module, thermal behavior and noncommon path aberrations, together with the contribution of the upstream telescope system.

Astronomical aperture synthesis requires to combine beams coming from telescopes, with constraints on mechanical and thermal stability, accuracy on the measurement of the interferences visibility. One adapted way for solving the problem is integrated planar optics. A first two telescope beam combiner made by ion exchange technique on glass substrate and build with symmetric Y-junction provides laboratory white light interferograms simultaneously with photometric calibration. In order to increase the interferometric signal without loss of photometric output, we propose to replace symmetric Y-junctions by asymmetric ones. In this paper, we report the conception, the manufacturing and the characterization of asymmetric Y-junction realized by ion exchange on glass substrate. The specific application of astronomical interferometry required the characterization of such component in term of spectral behavior, so we report the simulation and the measurement of asymmetric Y-junction response versus wavelength.

ESO is undertaking a large upgrade of the infrastructure on Cerro Paranal in order to integrate the 2nd generation of interferometric instruments Gravity and MATISSE, and increase its performance. This upgrade started mid 2014 with the construction of a service station for the Auxiliary Telescopes and will end with the implementation of the adaptive optics system for the Auxiliary telescope (NAOMI) in 2018. This upgrade has an impact on the infrastructure of the VLTI, as well as its sub-systems and scientific instruments.

For two years starting in February 2014, the AO modules GRAAL for HAWK-I and GALACSI for MUSE of the Adaptive Optics Facility project have undergone System Testing at ESO's Headquarters. They offer four different modes: NGS SCAO, LGS GLAO in the IR, LGS GLAO and LTAO in the visible. A detailed characterization of those modes was made possible by the existence of ASSIST, a test bench emulating an adaptive VLT including the Deformable Secondary Mirror, a star simulator and turbulence generator and a VLT focal plane re-imager. This phase aimed at validating all the possible components and loops of the AO modules before installation at the actual VLT that comprises the added complexity of real LGSs, a harsher non-reproducible environment and the adaptive telescope control. In this paper we present some of the major results obtained and challenges encountered during the phase of System Tests, like the preparation of the Acquisition sequence, the testing of the Jitter loop, the performance optimization in GLAO and the offload of low-order modes from the DSM to the telescope (restricted to the M2 hexapod). The System Tests concluded with the successful acceptance, shipping, installation and first commissioning of GRAAL in 2015 as well as the acceptance and shipping of GALACSI, ready for installation and commissioning early 2017.

GRAAL is the adaptive optics module feeding the wide-field IR imager HAWK-I at the VLT observatory. As part of the adaptive optics facility, GRAAL is equipped with 4 Laser-guide star wave-front sensors and provides a large field-of-view, ground layer correction system to HAWK-I. After a successful testing in Europe, the module has been re-assembled in Chile and installed at the Nasmyth-A platform of Yepun, the fourth Unit telescope of the observatory. We report on the installation of GRAAL on the mountain and on its first testing in stand-alone and on-sky.

International audience; GRAVITY is a near-infrared interferometric instrument that allows astronomers to combine the light of the four unit or four auxiliary telescopes of the ESO Very Large Telescope in Paranal, Chile. GRAVITY will deliver extremely precise relative astrometry and spatially resolved spectra. In order to study objects in regions of high extinction (e.g. the Galactic Center, or star forming regions), GRAVITY will use infrared wavefront sensors. The suite of four wavefront sensors located in the Coudé room of each of the unit telescopes are known as the Coudé Integrated Adaptive Optics (CIAO). The CIAO wavefront sensors are being constructed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and are being installed and commissioned at Paranal between February and September of 2016. This presentation will focus on system tests performed in the MPIA adaptive optics laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany in preparation for shipment to Paranal, as well as on-sky data from the commissioning of the first instrument. We will discuss the CIAO instruments, control strategy, optimizations, and performance at the telescope.

Rather than using an adaptive optics (AO) system to correct a telescope s entire pupil, it can instead be used to more finely correct a smaller sub-aperture. Indeed, existing AO systems can be used to correct a sub-aperture 1/3 to 1/2 the size of a 5-10 m telescope to extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) levels. We discuss the potential performance of a clear off-axis well-corrected sub-aperture (WCS), and describe our initial imaging results with a 1.5 m diameter WCS on the Palomar Observatory s Hale telescope. These include measured Strehl ratios of 0.92-0.94 in the infrared (2.17 microns), and 0.12 in the B band, the latter allowing a binary of separation 0.34 arc sec to be easily resolved in the blue. Such performance levels enable a variety of novel observational modes, such as infrared ExAO, visible-wavelength AO, and high-contrast coronagraphy. One specific application suggested by the high Strehl ratio stability obtained (1%) is the measurement of planetary transits and eclipses. Also described is a simple dark-hole experiment carried out on a binary star, in which a comatic phase term was applied directly to the deformable mirror, in order to shift the diffraction rings to one side of the point spread function., Comment: accepted by ApJ

The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) offers access to the four 8-m Unit Telescopes (UT) and the four 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes (AT) of the Paranal Observatory. After the first fringes obtained in 2011 with the commissioning instrument VINCI and with siderostats, the VLTI has seen an important number of systems upgrades, paving the path towards reaching the infrastructure level and scientific results it had been designed for. The current status of the VLTI operation all year round with up to four telescopes simultaneously and real imaging capability demonstrates the powerful interferometric infrastructure that has been delivered to the astronomical community. Reaching today’s level of robustness and operability of the VLTI has been a long journey, with a lot of lessons learned and gained experience. In 2007, the Paranal Observatory recognized the need for a global system approach for the VLTI, and a dedicated system engineering team was set to analyse the status of the interferometer, identify weak points and area where performances were not met, propose and apply solutions. The gains of this specific effort can be found today in the very good operability level with faster observations executions, in the decreased downtime, in the improved performances, and in the better reliability of the different systems. We will present an historical summary of the system engineering effort done at the VLTI, showing the strategy used, and the implemented upgrades and technical solutions. Improvements in terms of scientific data quality will be highlighted when possible. We will conclude on the legacy of the VLTI system engineering effort, for the VLTI and for future systems.

The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) using the Unit Telescope (UT) was strongly affected by vibrations since the first observations. Investigation by ESO on that subject had started in 2007, with a considerable effort since mid 2008. An important number of investigations on various sub-systems (On telescope: Guiding, Passive supports, Train Coude, insulation of electronics cabinets; On Instruments: dedicated campaign on each instruments with a special attention on the ones equipped with Close Cycle Cooler) were realized. Vibrations were not only recorded and analyzed using the usual accelerometers but also using on use sub-systems as InfRared Image Sensor (IRIS) and Multiple Applications Curvature Adaptive Optics (MACAO) and using a specific tool developed for vibrations measurements Mirror vibrAtion Metrology systeM for the Unit Telescope (MAMMUT). Those tools and systems have been used in order to improve the knowledge on telescope by finding sources. The sources whenever it was possible were damped. As known for years, instruments are still the principal sources of vibrations, for the majority of the UT. A special test in which 2 UTs instruments were completely shut down was realized to determine the minimum Optical Path Length (OPL) achievable. Vibrations is now a part of the instruments interface document and during the installation of any new instrument (KMOS) or system (AOF) a test campaign is realized. As a result some modifications (damping of CCC) can be asked in case of non-compliance. To ensure good operational conditions, levels of vibrations are regularly recorded to control any environmental change.

We present a new Adaptive Phase Mask (APM) coronagraph design enabling Amplitude and Phase Modulation control (APM). The Adaptive Phase mask coronagraph is a technique proposed to provide both high dynamic and high angular resolution imaging of faint sources around bright objects. Discriminating faint sources from static speckles is a challenging problem. Our new system is based on synchronous demodulation that allows high dynamic range detection of a faint target immersed in a background. The APM^2 uses the coherence of speckles to discriminate them from proper companions, using the mask itself as the electric field modulator. Synchronous detection in the radio frequency range is used to side-step the effect of atmospheric turbulence and enable the detection of low amplitude signals. The APM^2 concept offers high dynamic range detection and provides a time- and cost-effective method to quantify the probability of presence of a faint object close to the central star.

A dual coronagraph based on the Adaptive Mask concept is presented in this paper. A Lyot coronagraph with a variable diameter occulting disk and a nulling stellar coronagraph based on the Adaptive Phase Mask concept using polarization interferometry are presented in this work. Observations on sky and numerical simulations show the usefulness of the proposed method to optimize the nulling efficiency of the coronagraphs. In the case of the phase mask, the active control system will correct for the detrimental effects of image instabilities on the destructive interference (low-order aberrations such as tip-tilt and focus). The phase mask adaptability both in size, phase and amplitude also compensate for manufacturing errors of the mask itself, and potentially for chromatic effects. Liquid-crystal properties are used to provide variable transmission of an annulus around the phase mask, but also to achieve the achromatic π phase shift in the core of the PSF by rotating the polarization by 180°.A compressed mercury (Hg) drop is used as an occulting disk for the Lyot mask, its size control offers an adaptation to the seeing conditions and provides an optimization of the Tip-tilt correction.

Context. Phase-mask coronagraphy is advantageous in terms of inner working angle and discovery space. It is however still plagued by drawbacks such as sensitivity to tip-tilt errors and chromatism. A nulling stellar coronagraph based on the adaptive phase-mask concept using polarization interferometry is presented in this paper. Aims. Our concept aims at dynamically and achromatically optimizing the nulling efficiency of the coronagraph, making it more immune to fast low-order aberrations (tip-tilt errors, focus, ...). Methods. We performed numerical simulations to demonstrate the value of the proposed method. The active control system will correct for the detrimental effects of image instabilities on the destructive interference. The mask adaptability both in size, phase and amplitude also compensates for manufacturing errors of the mask itself, and potentially for chromatic effects. Liquid-crystal properties are used to provide variable transmission of an annulus around the phase mask, but also to achieve the achromatic {\pi} phase shift in the core of the PSF by rotating the polarization by 180 degrees. Results. We developed a new concept and showed its practical advantages using numerical simulations. This new adaptive implementation of the phase-mask coronagraph could advantageously be used on current and next-generation adaptive optics systems, enabling small inner working angles without compromising contrast., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

The Phase Referenced Imaging and Micro Arcsecond Astrometry (PRIMA) facility for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), is being installed and tested in the observatory of Paranal. Most of the tests have been concentrated on the characterization of the Fringe Sensor Unit (FSU) and on the automation of the fringe tracking in preparation of dual-field observations. The status of the facility, an analysis of the FSU performance and the first attempts towards dual-field observations will be presented in this paper. In the FSU, the phase information is spatially encoded into four independent combined beams (ABCD) and the group delay comes from their spectral dispersion over 5 spectral channels covering the K-band. During fringe tracking the state machine of the optical path difference controller is driven by the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) derived from the 4 ABCD measurements. We will describe the strategy used to define SNR thresholds depending on the star magnitude for automatically detecting and locking the fringes. Further, the SNR as well as the phase delay measurements are affected by differential effects occurring between the four beams. We will shortly discuss the contributions of these effects on the measured phase and SNR noises. We will also assess the sensitivity of the group delay linearity to various instrumental parameters and discuss the corresponding calibration procedures. Finally we will describe how these calibrations and detection thresholds are being automated to make PRIMA as much as possible a user-friendly and efficient facility.

PIONIER is a 4-telescope visitor instrument for the VLTI, planned to see its first fringes in 2010. It combines four ATs or four UTs using a pairwise ABCD integrated optics combiner that can also be used in scanning mode. It provides low spectral resolution in H and K band. PIONIER is designed for imaging with a specific emphasis on fast fringe recording to allow closure-phases and visibilities to be precisely measured. In this work we provide the detailed description of the instrument and present its updated status., Comment: Proceedings of SPIE conference Optical and Infrared Interferometry II (Conference 7734) San Diego 2010

The Astronomical Multi-BEam Recombiner (AMBER), has been operational at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) for many years. We present here some of the constant improvements we have been providing while still operating the instrument, with a heavy load of visitor and service observing programs, most of the nights of the year. In particular, we present here improvements regarding the spectral calibration and correction of the atmospheric loss in squared visibility due to path difference jitter, allowing the instrument to achieve greater precision.

The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) offers access to the four 8-m Unit Telescopes (UT) and the four 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes (AT) of the Paranal Observatory located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The two VLTI instruments, MIDI and AMBER deliver regular scientific results. In parallel to the operation, the instruments developments are pursued, and new modes are studied and commissioned to offer a wider range of scientific possibilities to the community. New configurations of the ATs array are discussed with the science users of the VLTI and implemented to optimize the scientific return. The monitoring and improvement of the different systems of the VLTI is a continuous work. The PRIMA instrument, bringing astrometry capability to the VLTI and phase referencing to the instruments has been successfully installed and the commissioning is ongoing. The possibility for visiting instruments has been opened to the VLTI facility.

The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) offers the unique access to the combination of the four 8-meter Unit Telescopes (UT) of Cerro Paranal. The quality of the scientific observations in interferometric mode is strongly related to the stability of the optical path difference (OPD) between the telescopes. Vibrations at the level of the telescopes and affecting the mirrors were shown to be an important source of perturbation for the OPD. ESO has thus started an important effort on the UTs and VLTI to tackle this effect. Active controls based on accelerometers and phase measurements have been developed to provide real-time correction of the variation of OPD introduced by vibrations. Systematic studies and measurement of the sources of vibration (instruments, wind, telescope altitude, ...) have been performed. Solutions to reduce the vibrations via design modification and/or new operation configurations are studied and implemented. To ensure good operational conditions, the levels of vibrations are regularly monitored to control any environmental change. This document will describe the modifications implemented and foreseen and give a status of the VLTI-UT vibrations evolution.

Multiple Application Curvature Adaptive Optics (MACAO) systems are used at the coud´e focus of the unit telescopes (UTs) at the La-Silla Paranal Observatory, Paranal, to correct for the wave-front aberrations induced by the atmosphere. These systems are in operation since 2005 and are designed to provide beams with 10 mas residual rms tip-tilt error to the VLTI laboratory. We have initiated several technical studies such as measuring the Strehl ratio of the images recorded at the guiding camera of the VLTI, establishing the optimum setup of the MACAO to get collimated and focused beam down to the VLTI laboratory and to the instruments, and ascertaining the data generated by the real time computer, all aimed at characterizing and improving the overall performance of these systems. In this paper we report the current status of these studies.

GRAVITY is an adaptive optics assisted Beam Combiner for the second generation VLTI instrumentation. The instrument will provide high-precision narrow-angle astrometry and phase-referenced interferometric imaging in the astronomical K-band for faint objects. We describe the wide range of science that will be tackled with this instrument, highlighting the unique capabilities of the VLTI in combination with GRAVITY. The most prominent goal is to observe highly relativistic motions of matter close to the event horizon of Sgr A*, the massive black hole at center of the Milky Way. We present the preliminary design that fulfils the requirements that follow from the key science drivers: It includes an integrated optics, 4-telescope, dual feed beam combiner operated in a cryogenic vessel; near-infrared wavefrontsensing adaptive optics; fringe-tracking on secondary sources within the field of view of the VLTI and a novel metrology concept. Simulations show that 10 {\mu}as astrometry within few minutes is feasible for a source with a magnitude of mK = 15 like Sgr A*, given the availability of suitable phase reference sources (mK = 10). Using the same setup, imaging of mK = 18 stellar sources in the interferometric field of view is possible, assuming a full night of observations and the corresponding UV coverage of the VLTI., Comment: 20 pages, Proceedings SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Conference 2010

FINITO (the VLTI three beam fringe-tracker) has been offered in September 2007 to the astronomical community for observations with the scientific instruments AMBER and MIDI. In this paper, we describe the last improvements of the fringe-tracking loop and its actual performance when operating with the 1.8m Auxiliary Telescopes. We demonstrate the gain provided to the scientific observations. Finally, we discuss how FINITO real-time data could be used in post-processing to enhance the scientific return of the facility.

The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) offers access to the four 8 m Unit Telescopes (UT) and the four 1.8 m Auxiliary Telescopes (AT) of the Paranal Observatory located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The fourth AT has been delivered to operation in December 2006, increasing the flexibility and simultaneous baselines access of the VLTI. Regular science operations are now carried on with the two VLTI instruments, AMBER and MIDI. The FINITO fringe tracker is now used for both visitor and service observations with ATs and will be offered on UTs in October 2008, bringing thus the fringe tracking facility to VLTI instruments. In parallel to science observations, technical periods are also dedicated to the characterization of the VLTI environment, upgrades of the existing systems, and development of new facilities. We will describe the current status of the VLTI and prospects on future evolution.

In stellar interferometry fringe-tracking is a method of stabilizing the Optical Pathlength Difference (OPD) from the observed astronomical source to the instrument detector via different telescopes in an interferometric array. At the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, which includes four 8.2 m class Unit Telescopes (UTs), stabilization to better than a tenth of the observing wavelength is required in order to improve the quality and sensitivity of fringe measurements on the interferometer's scientific instruments. Unfortunately, fast mechanical vibrations due to myriad sources in the observatory infrastructure propagate to various mirrors in the optical path and must be compensated for in real time. Due to its limited bandwidth the fringe tracking loop cannot be used for this purpose. Alternative approaches must therefore be adopted. Vibrations imparted to the primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors of the UTs are currently measured by a grid of suitably placed accelerometers, converted to optical pathlengths and cancelled by a wideband feedforward compensation algorithm to a downstream optical delay line. Although very effective, it is obvious that this system can not compensate for vibrations originating elsewhere on the optical path. We present here an adaptive narrow-band cancellation algorithm that can compensate remaining vibrations measured on the stellar signal on condition that they are sufficiently stable in amplitude and frequency.

The first phase of the VLTI is now almost completed with 8 available telescopes, 2 science instruments and complementary facilities (in particular a fringe tracker and angle tracker). The next step will be the integration of PRIMA and the development of the second generation instruments for which a thorough understanding of the performance that can provided by the VLTI facility is required. This is the basic purpose of this ongoing complementary characterization. The rationale of this activity is recalled and the methods used as well as the results obtained so far presented.

The basic advantage of single-mode fibers for deep nulling applications resides in their spatial filtering ability, and has now long been known. However, and as suggested more recently, a single-mode fiber can also be used for direct coherent recombination of spatially separated beams, i.e. in a 'multi-axial' nulling scheme. After the first successful demonstration of deep ( 5m AO equipped telescope such as the Palomar Hale 200 inch, the Keck, Subaru or Gemini telescopes.

The next generation of adaptive optics (AO) systems, often referred to as extreme adaptive optics (ExAO), will use higher numbers of actuators to achieve wavefront correction levels below 100 nm, and so enable a host of new observations such as high-contrast coronagraphy. However, the number of potential coronagraph types is increasing rapidly, and selection of the most advantageous coronagraph is subject to many factors. Here it is pointed out that experiments in the ExAO regime can already be carried out with existing hardware, by using a well-corrected subaperture on an existing telescope. For example, by magnifying a 1.5 m diameter off-axis subaperture onto the AO system’s deformable mirror (DM) on the Palomar Hale telescope, we have recently achieved stellar Strehl ratios as high as 92% to 94%, corresponding to wavefront errors of 85 - 100 nm. Using this approach, a wide variety of ExaO experiments can thus be carried out well before “next genera tion” ExAO systems are deployed on large telescopes. The potential experiments include infrared ExAO imaging and performance optimization, a comparison of coronagraphic approaches in the ExAO regime, visi ble wavelength AO, and predictive AO. Keywords: Extreme adaptive optics

Direct detection of planets around nearby stars requires the development of high-contrast imaging techniques because of the high difference between their respective fluxes. This led us to test a new coronagraphic approach based on the use of phase mask instead of dark occulting ones. Combined with high-level wavefront correction on an unobscured off-axis section of a large telescope, this method allows imaging very close to the star. Calculations indicate that for a given ground-based on-axis telescope, use of such an off-axis coronagraph provides a near-neighbor detection capability superior to that of a traditional coronagraph utilizing the full telescope aperture. Setting up a laboratory experiment working in near infrared allowed us to demonstrate the principle of the method, and a rejection of 2000:1 has already been achieved.

We present a laboratotry interferometer simulator specifically designed to characterize prototype integrated optics combiners. In the current configuration it allows to simulate a complex object made of luminous points and observe it with a reconfigurable array made of three telescopes. We used a three-way integrated optics similar to the one used at IOTA to combine the beams. We describe it in detail and present first validation measurements and the first measurements of a binary star. This work paves the way for an up-to eight telescope simulator capable of simulating the VLTI and the VITRUV focal instrument.

This paper reports numerical simulations of spatial filtering using optical fibers or integrated optics components. The filtering capability of the waveguide is evaluated by launching a non-guided optical field and measuring the power rejection along the propagation, over a given integration area. The Beam Propagation Method (BPM) allows to compute the transverse field distribution all along the guide, whose refractive index profile has been defined beforehand. This work is focused on the study of straight waveguides.

Planar optics technologies allow to design complex single- mode interferometric beam combiners on single miniaturized optical components. Our current collaborations with laboratories and companies allow us to deeply investigate the characteristics of components produced either by silica etching (LETI/CEA technology) or by ion diffusion process (LEMO/ENSERG and GeeO technology). Based on excellent results with 2-telescope beam combiners in the near infrared band (atmospheric H band), the extension to three telescopes has been achieved with both technologies and different combination configurations (co-axial and multi-axial). The specific application of astronomical interferometry requires the full characterization of such components in term of global throughput, identification of photon losses, polarization maintaining properties, interferometric behavior in monochromatic and polychromatic cases.

We report first white-light interferograms obtained with an integrated optics beam combiner on a glass plate. These results demonstrate the feasability of single-mode interferometric beam combination with integrated optics technology presented and discussed in paper I. The demonstration is achieved in laboratory with off-the-shelves components coming from micro-sensor applications, not optimized for astronomical use. These two-telescope beam combiners made by ion exchange technique on glass substrate provide laboratory white-light interferograms simultaneously with photometric calibration. A dedicated interferometric workbench using optical fibers is set up to characterize these devices. Despite the rather low match of the component parameters to astronomical constraints, we obtain stable contrasts higher than 93% with a 1.54-\micron laser source and up to 78% with a white-light source in the astronomical H band. Global throughput of 27% for a potassium ion exchange beam combiner and of 43% for a silver one are reached. This work validates our approach for combining several stellar beams of a long baseline interferometer with integrated optics components., 4 pages, 3 figures, accpeted by Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series

The optical characterization of a fiber-connected planar optics beam combiner dedicated to astronomical interferometry for two telescopes is presented. The beam combiner, fully integrated on a single 5 mm x 40 mm glass chip, is tested as the central part of an astronomical instrument. The single-mode waveguides are made by silver-ion-exchange technology upon glass substrates and provide spatial filtering, which improves the visibility measurement accuracy by selecting only the fundamental mode of the beams at the telescope focal plane. A global optical throughput of 43% is measured, and the sources of losses are identified and examined in detail. Solutions for improving this throughput are proposed. High and stable contrasts are obtained with a 1.55-mum laser diode (?96%) and with a white-light source (~92%) in the astronomical H filter (1.43 mum; 1.77 mum). The need for accurate control of differential instrumental polarization is demonstrated. In this context the intrinsic polarization-maintaining property of the planar optics component is characterized. This validation of the important potential uses of integrated planar optics should be valuable for future design of optical telescope arrays.

We report the first technical results of the Integrated Optics Near-infrared Interferometric Camera developed and characterized at the Observatoire de Grenoble as well as the first tests carried out on the GI2T Interferometer (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, France). This near-infrared interferometric camera dedicated to astronomical observations is implemented in a single dewar, which hosts the planar integrated optics beam combiner and a cooled HgCdTe infrared detector, with optical interfaces reduced to optical fibers for signal injection in the component. Thanks to its versatility, this concept allows to combine any number of telescopes in the near infrared range (J, H and K bands). The compactness of the integrated optics components allows various combining schemes (co- and multi-axial ones) and observations in different spectral bands simultaneously. Finally, a camera upgrade with a PICNIC chip is also described. This new set-up under integration at the Observatoire de Grenoble would allow to reach limiting magnitudes of H equals 4 - 6 with the GI2T.