@inproceedings{c7cc644b93ac44859af332250ac06951,
title = "Stability of the OGSE Vis-NIR Illumination Sub-System for the future ARIEL Space Mission",
abstract = "The future ARIEL Space Mission aims to achieve photometric precision down to the parts-per-million (ppm) level over periods longer than ten hours. This level of sensitivity is crucial to obtain valuable information about the properties of the exoplanet and its atmosphere. Achieving such precision requires a very precise characterisation of the instruments aboard of ARIEL, which can only be done with highly stable illumination systems, supported by ultra-low noise reference detectors. The Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences is responsible for the development of the visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) illumination sub-system, integrated into ARIEL{\textquoteright}s Optical Ground Support Equipment (OGSE), responsible for covering a wavelength range from 0.5 µm to 1.95 µm. Since ARIEL has a broadband wavelength coverage, from 0.5 µm to 7.8 µm, the OGSE includes other calibration sources, all integrated through an integrating sphere and monitored by reference detectors. This study presents an in-depth analysis of two main components of the Vis-NIR illumination sub-system: a Quartz Tungsten-Halogen (QTH) calibration source and an extended Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) reference detector. The stability and behaviour of the light source, both in flux and in spectrum, are evaluated, and the performance of the reference detector, integrated with a zero-drift pre-amplifier, is tested under cryogenic conditions. It is shown that these two components are compliant with the ARIEL{\textquoteright}s requirements, allowing the mission to obtain spectroscopic and photometric time series, with the stability needed to identify signal variations from 20 ppm to 100 ppm, over a 10-hour observation period.",
keywords = "ARIEL, Cryogenics, Exoplanets, Ground calibration, InGaAs, OGSE, QTH, Vis-NIR illumination system",
author = "C{\'e}dric Pereira and Manuel Abreu and Alves, {D. Castro} and Alexandre Cabral and Robert Spry and Bowles, {Neil E.} and Keith Nowicki and Rashman, {Maisie F.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 SPIE.; Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave ; Conference date: 16-06-2024 Through 22-06-2024",
year = "2024",
doi = "10.1117/12.3018284",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
publisher = "SPIE",
editor = "Coyle, {Laura E.} and Shuji Matsuura and Perrin, {Marshall D.}",
booktitle = "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024",
}