Optical design of the WFIRST Phase-A Integral Field Channel

WFIRST is one of NASA’s Decadal Survey Missions and is currently in Phase-A development. The optical design of the WFIRST Integral Field Channel (IFC), one of three main optical channels of WFIRST, is presented, and the evolution of the IFC channel since the Mission Concept Review (MCR, end of Pre-Phase A) is discussed. The IFC has two subchannels: Supernova (IFC-S) and Galaxy (IFC-G) channels, with Fields of View of 3”x4.5” and 4.2”x9” respectively, and ~R 100 spectral analysis over waveband 0.42–2.0 μm. The Phase-A IFC optical design meets image quality requirements over the field of view (FOV) while balancing cost and volume constraints.