Optical and near-infrared Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs are low-temperature detectors with inherent spectral resolution that are able to instantly register individual photons with potentially no false counts or readout noise. These properties make MKIDs transformative for exoplanet direct imaging by enabling photon-statistics-based planet-discrimination techniques as well as performing conventional noise-subtraction techniques on shorter timescales. These detectors are in the process of rapid development, and as such, the full extent of their performance enhancing potential has not yet be quantified. MKID Exoplanet Direct Imaging Simulator, or MEDIS, is a general-purpose end-to-end numerical simulator for high-contrast observations with MKIDs. The simulator exploits current optical propagation libraries and augments them with a new MKIDs simulation module to provide a pragmatic model of many of the degradation effects present during the detection process. We use MEDIS to demonstrate how changes in various MKID properties affect the contrast-separation performance when conventional differential imaging techniques are applied to low-flux, short duration observations. We show that to improve performance at close separations will require increasing the maximum count rate or pixel sampling when there is high residual flux after the coronagraph. We predict that taking pixel yield from the value achieved by current instruments of 80% and increasing it to 100% would result in an improvement in contrast of a factor of ∼4 at 3λ/D and ∼8 at 6λ/D. Achieving better contrast performance in this low flux regime would then require exploiting the information encoded in the photon arrival time statistics.

中文翻译：

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用于光子计数高对比度应用的随机变化图像平面的第一原理模拟器

光学和近红外微波动感电感探测器或 MKID 是具有固有光谱分辨率的低温探测器，能够立即记录单个光子，而不会出现错误计数或读出噪声。这些特性通过启用基于光子统计的行星识别技术以及在更短的时间尺度上执行传统的噪声减法技术，使 MKID 对系外行星的直接成像具有变革性。这些检测器正处于快速发展的过程中，因此，它们的性能提升潜力的全部程度尚未量化。MKID 系外行星直接成像模拟器 (MEDIS) 是一种通用的端到端数值模拟器，用于使用 MKID 进行高对比度观测。该模拟器利用当前的光传播库并使用新的 MKID 模拟模块对其进行扩充，以提供检测过程中存在的许多退化效应的实用模型。我们使用 MEDIS 来演示当传统的差分成像技术应用于低通量、短持续时间的观察时，各种 MKID 属性的变化如何影响对比分离性能。我们表明，当日冕仪之后存在高剩余通量时，要提高近距离分离的性能将需要增加最大计数率或像素采样。我们预测，从当前仪器实现的 80% 的值中获取像素产量并将其增加到 100% 将导致对比度在 3λ/D 时提高约 4 倍，在 6λ/D 时提高约 8 倍。