Shaped pupil coronagraphy

At Princeton we have been studying shaped pupil coronagraphs for high contrast imaging and planet finding. These will find applications in both ground and space imaging. In this article we summarize the design procedure for shaped pupils and review the various families of designs we have found. We describe the manufacturing processes we have used to make free standing shaped pupil masks and review our most recent laboratory results with and without wavefront control. We also discuss the factors limiting high contrast in the laboratory and our plans for mitigating them. To cite this article: N.J. Kasdin et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).