Scaled model guidelines for solar coronagraphs’ external occulters with an optimized shape

One of the major challenges faced by externally occulted solar coronagraphs is the suppression of the light diffracted by the occulter edge. It is a contribution to the stray light that overwhelms the coronal signal on the focal plane and must be reduced by modifying the geometrical shape of the occulter. There is a rich literature, mostly experimental, on the appropriate choice of the most suitable shape. The problem arises when huge coronagraphs, such as those in formation flight, shall be tested in a laboratory. A recent contribution [Opt. Lett. 41, 757 (2016)] provides the guidelines for scaling the geometry and replicate in the laboratory the flight diffraction pattern as produced by the whole solar disk and a flight occulter but leaves the con- clusion on the occulter scale law somehow unjustified. This paper provides the numerical support for validating that conclusion and presents the first-ever simulation of the diffraction behind an occulter with an optimized shape along the optical axis with the solar disk as a source. This paper, together with Opt. Lett. 41, 757 (2016), aims at constituting a complete guide for scaling the corona- graphs’ geometry.