Performance analysis of SCALES final optical design: End to End Modeling

Abstract

The SCALES instrument is a high-contrast imager and integral field spectrograph that operates in the infrared wavelength and is intended to be utilized behind W.M. Keck Observatory’s adaptive optics system. The instrument operates over a broad wavelength range from 1.0 to 5.0 μm. The instrument includes a microlens array-based integral field spectrograph that is used with slicer optics and allows for low (R ∼ 35 - 250) and moderate (R ∼ 2000 - 6500) spectral resolution spectroscopy. We have implemented end-to-end modeling of the SCALES instrument optics using both geometric optics and physical optics. This analysis has been useful to understand the spectral formats, spectral resolution, and point spread functions. We have also modeled the geometric PSF from lenslets and combined it with the diffraction effects to model the crosstalk between the closely spaced lenslet spectra. The psf modeling are being integrated with the SCALES simulator to simulate realistic data products that are being used to develop the SCALES data pipeline.