Astronomy Colloquium

Astrophotonics is the application of versatile photonic technologies to channel, manipulate, and disperse guided light from one or more telescopes to achieve scientific objectives in astronomy in an efficient and cost-effective way. The photonic platform of guided light in fibers and waveguides has opened the doors to next-generation instrumentation for both ground- and space-based telescopes. Utilizing the photonic advantage is a promising approach to massively miniaturize the next generation of spectrographs for ground- and space-based telescopes. I will discuss some of the results from our efforts to design and fabricate high- throughput on-chip astrophotonic spectrographs and other instruments. These devices are ideally suited for enabling exciting science cases, such as measuring exoplanet masses and characterizing exoplanet atmospheres. I will also discuss specific approaches to make this technology science-ready and qualified for the next generation of space missions and potentially, planetary missions.