Photonic Integrated Circuits for the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Science Drivers, Material Platforms, Arrayed-Waveguide Spectrographs, and a Space-Qualification Roadmap

Abstract

NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will require ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared instruments that are simultaneously compact, mechanically and thermally stable, high-throughput, and replicable at large channel counts. Space-qualified photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and optical fibres are key platforms that can deliver these properties: they manipulate light at the diffraction limit within micron-scale single-mode waveguide circuits. An astrophotonic instrument fully guides the starlight from focal plane to detector, eliminating scatter and ghosts and offering excellent stability with no moving parts. This paper examines how astrophotonics can address the principal science drivers of HWO through four topics: (I) the HWO observing modes best implemented with photonic instruments; (II) the waveguide and fibre materials that can span the demanding 100nm-2.5μm HWO wavelength range; (III) the potential of arrayed-waveguide-grating (AWG) spectrographs to reach the resolving powers and throughputs HWO science requires; and (IV) the steps needed to space-qualify PICs and fibres against radiation, thermal cycling, vacuum, and launch loads. For each topic, concrete technical requirements are extracted and the current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is assessed. The main contribution of this paper is to unify these science drivers, candidate-aperture photon budgets, UV-to-near-infrared material platforms, AWG architectures, and space-qualification requirements within a single photon-budget framework that pairs each claimed benefit with a measurable requirement, a TRL, and an environmental test that can retire it. A phased roadmap advances the critical photonic components from their present TRL~2 to -5, depending on platform and application, to the TRL~6 needed at HWO's instrument-definition gate.