A Vacuum Waveguide Filter Bank Spectrometer for Far-Infrared Astrophysics
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Rong Nie↗
Engineering topics
Jake Connors
Publications and source records attributed to Jake Connors.
The Simons Observatory Microwave SQUID Multiplexing Detector Module Design
Advances in cosmic microwave background(CMB)science depend on increasing the number of sensitive detectorsobserving the sky. New instruments deploy large arrays of superconducting transition-edge sensor(TES)bolometers tileddensely into ever larger focal planes. High multiplexing factors reduce the thermal loading on the cryogenic receivers andsimplify their design. We present the design of focal-plane modules with an order of magnitude higher multiplexingfactor than has previously been achieved with TES bolometers. We focus on the novel cold readout component, whichemploys microwave SQUID multiplexing(μmux). Simons Observatory will use 49 modules containing 70,000bolometers to make exquisitely sensitive measurements of the CMB. We validate the focal-plane module design,presenting measurements of the readout component with and without a prototype detector array of 1728 polarization-sensitive bolometers coupled to feedhorns. The readout component achieves a 95% yield and a 910 multiplexing factor.The median white noise of each readout channel is 65pA Hz. This impacts the projected SO mapping speed by<8%,which is less than is assumed in the sensitivity projections. The results validate the full functionality of the module. Wediscuss the measured performance in the context of SO science requirements, which are exceeded.
Heather McCarrick↗
Assembly Development for the Simons Observatory Focal Plane Readout Module
The Simons Observatory (SO) is a suite of instruments sensitive to temperature and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to be located at Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Five telescopes, one large aperture telescope and four small aperture telescopes, will host roughly 70,000 highly multiplexed transition edge sensor (TES) detectors operated at 100 mK. Each SO focal plane module (UFM) couples 1,764 TESes to microwave resonators in a microwave multiplexing (μMux) readout circuit. Before detector integration, the100 mKμMux components are packaged into multiplexing modules (UMMs), which are independently validated to ensure they meet SO performance specifications. Here we present the assembly developments of these UMM readout packages for mid frequency (90/150 GHz) and ultra high frequency (220/280 GHz) UFMs.
Aamir M. Ali↗
Optical Design of the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM)
This work describes the optical design of the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping(EXCLAIM). EXCLAIM is a balloon-borne telescope that will measure integrated line emission from carbonmonoxide (CO) at redshiftsz <1 and ionized carbon ([CII]) at redshiftsz= 2.5−3.5 to probe star forma-tion over cosmic time in cross-correlation with galaxy redshift surveys. The EXCLAIM instrument will observeat frequencies of 420–540 GHz using six microfabricated silicon integrated spectrometers with spectral resolv-ing powerR= 512 coupled to kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). A completely cryogenic telescope cooledto a temperature below 5 K provides low-background observations between narrow atmospheric lines in thestratosphere. Off-axis reflective optics use a 90-cm primary mirror to provide 4.2′full-width at half-maximum(FWHM) resolution at the center of the EXCLAIM band over a field of view of 22.5′. Illumination of the 1.7 Kcold stop combined with blackened baffling at multiple places in the optical system ensures low (<−40 dB) edgeillumination of the primary to minimize spill onto warmer elements at the top of the dewar.
Thomas Essinger-Hileman↗
The Experiment for Cryogenic Large-aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM)
Submillimeter and far-IR spectroscopy provides insight into galaxy evolution through measurement of atomic and molecular line emission. The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a cryogenic balloon-borne instrument designed to carry out intensity mapping to measure the cumulative redshifted line emission from carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon to probe star formation in windows from the present to z=3.5. During this time, the rate of star formation dropped dramatically, while dark matter continued to cluster. Intensity mapping permits a blind and complete survey of emitting gas through statistics of cumulative brightness fluctuations. EXCLAIM achieves high sensitivity using a cryogenic telescope coupled to six integrated spectrometers with spectral resolving power R=512 and employing microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Here we summarize the status of the mission.
Maryam Rahmani↗
The Experiment for Cryogenic Large-aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM)
Submillimeter and far-IR spectroscopy provides insight into galaxy evolution through atomic and molecular line emission. The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a cryogenic balloon-borne instrument designed to carry out an intensity mapping to measure the cumulative redshifted line emission from carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon to probe star formation in windows from the present to z=3.5. During this time, the rate of star formation dropped dramatically, while dark matter continued to cluster. Intensity mapping permits a blind and complete survey of emitting gas through statistics of cumulative brightness fluctuations. EXCLAIM achieves high sensitivity using a cryogenic telescope coupled to six integrated spectrometers with spectral resolving power R = 512 and employing kinetic inductance detectors. Here we summarize the status of the mission.
Maryam Rahmani↗
The Experiment for Cryogenic Large-aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM)
Submillimeter and far-IR spectroscopy provides insight into galaxy evolution through measurement of atomic and molecular line emission. The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a cryogenic balloon-borne instrument designed to carry out intensity mapping to measure the cumulative redshifted line emission from carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon to probe star formation in windows from the present to z=3.5. During this time, the rate of star formation dropped dramatically, while dark matter continued to cluster. Intensity mapping permits a blind and complete survey of emitting gas through statistics of cumulative brightness fluctuations. EXCLAIM achieves high sensitivity using a cryogenic telescope coupled to six integrated spectrometers with spectral resolving power R=512 and employing microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Here we summarize the status of the mission.
Maryam Rahmani↗
Second-generation Micro-Spec: Spectrometer Design for the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping
Micro-Spec (μ-Spec) is a direct-detection spectrometer that integrates all the components of a diffraction-grating spectrometer onto a ∼10-cm2 chip using superconducting microstrip transmission lines on a single-crystal silicon substrate. The second-generation μ-Spec has been designed to operate with a spectral resolution of ∼512 in the far-infrared and submillimeter (420–540 GHz, 714–555 μm) wavelength range, a band of interest for NASA’s EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM). EXCLAIM will be a high-altitude balloon mission that is being designed to map the emission of redshifted carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon lines over a redshift range 0 < z < 3.5. EXCLAIM will be the first demonstration of the μ-Spec technology in a space-like environment. This work reviews the status of the μ-Spec design for the EXCLAIM instrument, with emphasis on the spectrometer’s two-dimensional diffractive region, through which light of different wavelengths is focused on microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) along the spectrometer focal plane. An optimization process generates a geometrical configuration of the diffractive region that satisfies specific requirements on size, operating spectral range and performance. An initial optical design optimized for EXCLAIM is presented in terms of geometric layout, spectral purity and efficiency.
Giuseppe Cataldo↗
A Survey of FIR Probe Mission Concepts
The 2020 Decadal survey recommended that “The NASA Astrophysics Division should implement a line of probe missions with a mission cost cap of ~$1.5 billion (fiscal year 2020) and a targeted launch rate of approximately one per decade.” The survey highlighted two mission areas that were recommended to be competed for the first probe mission opportunity, either a “Far Infrared Imaging or Spectroscopy Mission” and “An X-Ray Probe to Complement ESA’s Athena Observatory.” Three Far-Infrared (FIR) Probe Mission proposals were submitted by PI-led teams in response to the NASA Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) Solicitation released in July 2023. This talk will first outline the general science goals of the Far-IR community and the state of technology needed to field cutting-edge Far-IR missions. We will then discuss and contrast the publicly available details of the proposed probe missions and how they compare to the Origins Space Telescope concept as submitted to the 2020 Decadal survey.
Jake Connors↗