Dr. Seth R. Meeker Profile

Dr. Seth R. Meeker

Optical Engineer at Jet Propulsion Lab

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Author

Publications (15)

Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper

The decadal survey testbed two: a technology development facility for future exo-Earth observatories

Matthew Noyes, Alex Walter, Greg Allan, Garreth Ruane, Eduardo Bendek, Phillip Poon, Camilo Meija Prada, A.J. El Dorado Riggs, Hong Tang, Seth Meeker

Proceedings Volume 12680, 1268017 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676452

KEYWORDS: Coronagraphy, Cameras, Wavefronts, Wavefront sensors, Point spread functions, Electric fields, Vacuum, Thermal stability, Mirrors

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Due to the reporting from the Astro2020: Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astrophysics, the direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets has become a leading priority for research and development in astrophysics. In response to this survey, NASA has selected the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) as its next astrophysics flagship mission. However, the current state-of-the-art coronagraph technology is not sufficient to achieve the required contrast (approximately 10⁻¹⁰) with HWO’s proposed configuration. Improving the technology readiness level of coronagraphs for HWO will require extensive research and development. To increase its capacity to support this objective and to provide the community with a new resource to perform versatile coronagraph technology development, NASA’s High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has commissioned the Decadal Survey Testbed 2 (DST2), a state-of-the-art vacuum coronagraph testbed. It’s commissioned architecture incorporates a 2K-actuator Boston Micromachines deformable mirror and a traditional Lyot coronagraph and features a flexible design capable of accommodating different coronagraph technologies including tip/tilt mirrors, segmented apertures, reflective pupils, disturbance injection, wavefront sensing and control, and the integration of additional sources or telescope simulators with minimal reconfiguration. DST2 has repeatably achieved 1 × 10⁻⁹ monochromatic raw contrast, and 3.3 × 10⁻⁹ raw contrast in a 10% bandwidth centered at 550nm in a 180 degree dark hole from 3λ/D to 9λ/D. Additionally, DST2 uses new 20-bit DM electronics capable of a 650 femtometer DM actuator resolution which meets future requirements for HWO. As of August 2023, DST2 has begun operations to meet scientific milestones set by the principal investigators of NASA Strategic Astrophysics Technologies awards. Parallel to these priorities, work to determine contrast limitations will be performed.

Proceedings Article | 29 August 2022 Poster

An MKID camera for use behind MagAO-X

Noah Swimmer, Benjamin Mazin, John Bailey, Jared Males, Gregoire Coiffard, Miguel Daal, Kristina Davis, Paul Szypryt, Seth Meeker, Alexander Walter, Clint Bockstiegel, Neelay Fruitwala, Isabel Lipartito, Nicholas Zobrist, Sarah Steiger, Jennifer Smith, Hawkins Clay

Proceedings Volume 12184, 121843Z (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629573

KEYWORDS: Cameras, Sensors, Exoplanets, Adaptive optics, Wavefront sensors, Visible radiation, Speckle, Photon counting, Photodetectors, Optical filters

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Proceedings Article | 1 September 2021 Presentation + Paper

The Twin decadal survey testbeds in the high contrast imaging testbed facility at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory

Seth Meeker, Matthew Noyes, Hong Tang, Garreth Ruane, Camilo Mejia Prada, Eduardo Bendek, Wesley Baxter, Brendan Crill, A. J. Eldorado Riggs, Phillip Poon, Nicholas Siegler

Proceedings Volume 11823, 118230Y (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594668

KEYWORDS: Coronagraphy, Wavefronts, Exoplanets, Data modeling, Microelectromechanical systems, Wavefront sensors

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Proceedings Article | 1 August 2021 Presentation

On-sky demonstration of stochastic speckle discrimination for companion detection with the MKID Exoplanet Camera (MEC)

Sarah Steiger, Thayne Currie, Timothy Brandt, Olivier Guyon, Masayuki Kuzuhara, Jeffrey Chilcote, Tyler Groff, Julien Lozi, Alexander Walter, Neelay Fruitwala, John Bailey, Nicholas Zobrist, Noah Swimmer, Isabel Lipartito, Jennifer Smith, Clint Bockstiegel, Seth Meeker, Gregoire Coiffard, Rupert Dodkins, Paul Szypryt, Kristina Davis, Miguel Daal, Bruce Bumble, Sebastien Vievard, Ananya Sahoo, Vincent Deo, Nemanja Jovanovic, Frantz Martinache, Motohide Tamura, Benjamin Mazin

Proceedings Volume 11823, 1182307 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594872

KEYWORDS: Speckle, Stochastic processes, Exoplanets, Cameras, Sensors, Point spread functions, Stars, Signal to noise ratio, Photodetectors, Image resolution

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Proceedings Article | 13 December 2020 Presentation + Paper

Design and performance of the PALM-3000 3.5 kHz upgrade

Seth Meeker, Tuan Truong, Jennifer Roberts, J. Chris Shelton, S. Felipe Fregoso, Rick Burruss, Richard Dekany, J. Kent Wallace, John Baker, Carolyn Heffner, Dimitry Mawet, Kevin Rykoski, Jonathan Tesch, Gautam Vasisht

Proceedings Volume 11448, 114480W (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2562931

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Wavefront sensors, Digital signal processing, Control systems, Signal processing, Imaging systems, Telescopes, Observatories, Coronagraphy, Detector development

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Proceedings Article | 6 September 2019 Presentation + Paper

Daytime adaptive optics for deep space optical communication

Lewis Roberts, Seth Meeker, Sabino Piazzola, J. Chris Shelton

Proceedings Volume 11133, 1113308 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2524633

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Laser guide stars, Optical communications

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Proceedings Article | 24 July 2018 Presentation

Active speckle control with microwave kinetic inductance detectors (Conference Presentation)

Neelay Fruitwala, Seth Meeker, Michael Bottom, Alex Walter, Clinton Bockstiegel, Giulia Collura, Isabel Lipartito, Olivier Guyon, Julien Lozi, Benjamin Mazin

Proceedings Volume 10703, 107031L (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2311402

KEYWORDS: Speckle, Microwave radiation, Inductance, Sensors, Active sensors, Coronagraphy, Adaptive optics, Observatories, Wavefronts, Single photon

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Proceedings Article | 11 July 2018 Paper

Testing and characterization of deformable mirrors

Lewis Roberts, Camilo Mejia Prada, J. Chris Shelton, Seth Meeker, Li Yao, Yuqian Wu, Xingtao Wu

Proceedings Volume 10703, 1070375 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314296

KEYWORDS: Actuators, Deformable mirrors, Mirrors, Planets, Adaptive optics

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Proceedings Article | 10 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

A laser communication adaptive optics system as a testbed for extreme adaptive optics

Lewis Roberts, Gary Block, Santos Fregoso, Harrison Herzog, Seth Meeker, Jennifer Roberts, Joshua Rodriguez, Jonathan Tesch, Tuan Truong

Proceedings Volume 10703, 107031S (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314304

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Information operations, Telescopes, Laser communications, Telecommunications, Cameras, Space telescopes, Device simulation, Imaging systems

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Proceedings Article | 9 July 2018 Presentation

MEC: the MKID exoplanet camera for high contrast astronomy at Subaru (Conference Presentation)

Alex Walter, Benjamin Mazin, Clint Bockstiegel, Neelay Fruitwala, Paul Szypryt, Isabel Lipartito, Seth Meeker, Nicholas Zobrist, Giulia Collura, Grégoire Coiffard, Paschal Strader, Olivier Guyon, Julien Lozi, Nemanja Jovanovic

Proceedings Volume 10702, 107020V (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2311586

KEYWORDS: Exoplanets, Stars, Cameras, Planets, Astronomy, Speckle, Coronagraphy, Iterated function systems, Telescopes, Gemini Planet Imager

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Direct Imaging of exoplanets is one of the most technically difficult techniques used to study exoplanets, but holds immense promise for not just detecting but characterizing planets around the nearest stars. Ambitious instruments at the world’s largest telescopes have been built to carry out this science: the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), SPHERE at VLT, SCExAO at Subaru, and the P1640 and Stellar Double Coronagraph (SDC) at Palomar. These instruments share a common archetype consisting of an extreme AO system feeding a coronagraph for on-axis stellar light rejection followed by a focal plane Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS). They are currently limited by uncontrolled scattered and diffracted light which produces a coherent speckle halo in the image plane. A number of differential imaging schemes exist to mitigate these issues resulting in star-planet contrast ratios as deep as ~10^-6 at low angular separations. Surpassing this contrast limit requires high speed active speckle nullification from a focal plane wavefront sensor (FPWS) and new processing techniques. MEC, the Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector (MKID) Exoplanet Camera, is a J-band IFS module behind Subaru Telescope’s SCExAO system. MEC is capable of producing an image cube several thousand times a second without the read noise that dominates conventional high speed IFUs. This enables it to integrate with SCExAO as an extremely fast FPWS while eliminating non-common path aberrations by doubling as a science camera. Key science objectives can be further explored if longer wavelengths (H and K band) are simultaneously sent to CHARIS for high resolution spectroscopy. MEC, to be commissioned at Subaru in early 2018, is the second MKID IFS for high contrast imaging following DARKNESS’ debut at Palomar in July 2016. MEC will follow up on young planets and debris disks discovered in the SEEDS survey or by Project 1640 as well as discover self-luminous massive planets. The increased sensitivity, combined with the advanced coronagraphs in SCExAO which have inner working angles (IWAs) as small as 0.03” at 1.2 μm, allows young Jupiter-sized objects to be imaged as close as 4 AU from their host star. If the wavefront control enabled by MEC is fully realized, it may begin to probe the reflected light of giant planets around some nearby stars, opening a new parameter space for direct imaging targeting older stars. While direct imaging of reflected light exoplanets is the most challenging of the scientific goals, it is a promising long-term path towards characterization of habitable planets around nearby stars using Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). With diameters of about 30-m, an ELT can resolve the habitable zones of nearby M-type stars, for which an Earth-sized planet would be at ~10^-7 contrast at 1 μm. This will complement future space-based high contrast optical imaging targeting the wider habitable zones of sun-like stars for ~10^-10 contrast earth analogs. We will present lessons learned from the first few months of MEC’s operation including initial lab and on-sky (weather permitting) results. We already have preliminary data from Palomar testing a new statistical speckle discrimination post-processing technique using the photon arrival time measured with MKIDs. Residual stellar light in the form of a speckle masquerading as a planetary companion is pulled from a modified Rician distribution and can be statistically discerned from a true off-axis Poisson point source. Additionally, the progress of active focal plane wavefront control will be briefly discussed.

Proceedings Article | 6 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

KRAKENS: a superconducting MKID integral field spectrograph concept for the Keck I telescope

Benjamin Mazin, George Becker, Gustavo Cancelo, Kevin France, Wesley Fraser, Tucker Jones, Seth Meeker, Kieran O'Brien, J. Xavier Prochaska, Shriharsh Tendulkar, Gautam Vasisht

Proceedings Volume 10702, 107020H (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312221

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Pulsars, Spectral resolution, Photons, Sensors, Galactic astronomy, Superconductors, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 2018 Paper

Smartphone scene generator for efficient characterization of visible imaging detectors

Michael Bottom, Leo Neat, Leon Harding, Patrick Morrissey, Seth Meeker, Richard Demers

Proceedings Volume 10709, 107092R (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312335

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Point spread functions, Image sensors, Electron multiplying charge coupled devices, Organic light emitting diodes, RGB color model, Cameras, Calibration, Light emitting diodes, Photometry, Scene simulation, Tracking and scene analysis

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SPIE Journal Paper | 11 September 2015 Open Access

Planetary Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment–Coronagraph (PICTURE C)

Timothy Cook, Kerri Cahoy, Supriya Chakrabarti, Ewan Douglas, Susanna Finn, Marc Kuchner, Nikole Lewis, Anne Marinan, Jason Martel, Dimitri Mawet, Benjamin Mazin, Seth Meeker, Christopher Mendillo, Gene Serabyn, David Stuchlik, Mark Swain

JATIS, Vol. 1, Issue 04, 044001, (September 2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.1.4.044001

KEYWORDS: Coronagraphy, Planets, Imaging systems, Telescopes, Stars, Exoplanets, Mirrors, Sensors, Wavefronts, Infrared imaging

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Proceedings Article | 25 September 2012 Paper

Optical lumped element microwave kinetic inductance detectors

Danica Marsden, Benjamin Mazin, Bruce Bumble, Seth Meeker, Kieran O'Brien, Sean McHugh, Matthew Strader, Eric Langman

Proceedings Volume 8453, 84530B (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.924904

KEYWORDS: Resonators, Sensors, Tin, Microwave radiation, Inductance, Superconductors, Time correlated photon counting, Multiplexing, Chemical elements, Optical components

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Proceedings Article | 24 September 2012 Paper

ARCONS: a 1024 pixel superconducting integral field spectrograph

Kieran O'Brien, Ben Mazin, Sean McHugh, Seth Meeker, Danica Marsden, Bruce Bumble

Proceedings Volume 8446, 84460F (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.924920

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Superconductors, Inductance, Spectrographs, Quasiparticles, Resonators, Telescopes, Microwave radiation, Spectroscopy, Cameras

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