We seek to advance the capabilities of photonic technologies in support of ground-based infrared astronomy. Currently, observations in the wavelength range 1.0μm < λ < 2.5μm suffer from an irreducible background generated by emission from OH (hydroxyl) molecules in the upper atmosphere. Placing instruments in space is one solution, but these are significantly more expensive and much harder (and more dangerous) to maintain and upgrade. Meanwhile, narrow-band notch filters incorporated into the optical path of ground-based astronomical instruments can suppress this background with very little accompanying loss of signal from the astronomical sources of interest. Micron-scale ring resonators are one technology that provides a promising method of generating such notch filters. Building on our previous efforts in astrophotonic technology development, our current goals are 1) to optimize the design of ring resonators so that the notch filters they create provide greatest suppression at the wavelengths of the most prominent OH lines, and 2) to optimize the coupling of the resonator-equipped silicon devices with the input fibers (from the sky) and output fibers (to the spectrograph and detector) such that the throughput losses do not completely eliminate the signal-to-noise improvement gained from the OH suppression. To accomplish the former, we introduce heaters that can actively change the wavelength of the notch filters to match the OH emission lines, as well as mechanisms for polarization-dependent and -independent suppression. To accomplish the latter, we incorporate post-fabrication packaging of fibers to ensure optimal alignment.
We seek to advance the capabilities of photonic technologies in support of ground-based infrared astronomy. Currently, observations in the wavelength range 1.0μm < λ < 2.5μm suffer from an irreducible background generated by emission from OH (hydroxyl) molecules in the upper atmosphere. However, narrow-band notch filters incorporated into the optical path of astronomical instruments can suppress this background with very little accompanying loss of signal from the astronomical sources of interest. Micron-scale ring resonators are one technology that provides a promising method of generating such notch filters. Building on our previous efforts in astrophotonic technology development, our current goals are 1) to optimize the design of ring resonators so that the notch filters they create provide greatest suppression at the wavelengths of the most prominent OH lines, and 2) to optimize the coupling of the resonator-equipped silicon devices with the input fibers (from the sky) and output fibers (to the spectrograph and detector) such that the throughput losses do not completely eliminate the signal-to-noise improvement gained from the OH suppression. To accomplish the former, we introduce heaters that can actively change the wavelength of the notch filters to match the OH emission lines, as well as mechanisms for polarization-dependent and -independent suppression. To accomplish the latter, we incorporate post-fabrication packaging of fibers to ensure optimal alignment.
The third-generation South Pole Telescope camera (SPT-3G) improves upon its predecessor (SPTpol) by an order of magnitude increase in detectors on the focal plane. The technology used to read out and control these detectors, digital frequency-domain multiplexing (DfMUX), is conceptually the same as used for SPTpol, but extended to accommodate more detectors. A nearly 5× expansion in the readout operating bandwidth has enabled the use of this large focal plane, and SPT-3G performance meets the forecasting targets relevant to its science objectives. However, the electrical dynamics of the higher-bandwidth readout differ from predictions based on models of the SPTpol system due to the higher frequencies used and parasitic impedances associated with new cryogenic electronic architecture. To address this, we present an updated derivation for electrical crosstalk in higher-bandwidth DfMUX systems and identify two previously uncharacterized contributions to readout noise, which become dominant at high bias frequency. The updated crosstalk and noise models successfully describe the measured crosstalk and readout noise performance of SPT-3G. These results also suggest specific changes to warm electronics component values, wire-harness properties, and SQUID parameters, to improve the readout system for future experiments using DfMUX, such as the LiteBIRD space telescope.
We seek to advance the capabilities of photonic technologies in support of ground-based infrared astronomy. Currently, observers in this field suffer from an irreducible background generated by emission from OH (hydroxyl) molecules in the upper atmosphere. However, if narrow-band notch filters could be incorporated into the optical path of astronomical instruments prior to any optical elements that would spectrally broaden such emission lines, then this background could be effectively suppressed with very little accompanying loss of signal from the astronomical sources of interest. Micron-scale ring resonators are one technology that provides a promising method of generating such notch filters. Building on our previous efforts in astrophotonic technology development, our current goals are 1) to optimize the design of ring resonators so that the notch filters they create provide greatest suppression at the wavelengths of the most prominent OH lines, and 2) to optimize the coupling of the resonator-equipped silicon devices with the input fibers (from the sky) and output fibers (to the spectrograph and detector) such that the throughput losses do not completely eliminate the signal-to-noise improvement gained from the OH suppression. Theoretical estimates show that suppression (by 20-40dB) of the most prominent OH lines improves the signal to noise of near-IR observations by a factor of 5 or more - this is similar in effect to turning a telescope with a 1m aperture into a telescope with a 5m aperture!
Photonic ring resonator arrays used as notch filters are a promising novel solution to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of ground-based astronomical observations by suppressing OH emission lines in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range (0.9-2.5 μm). We aim to fabricate a series of ring resonators connected by a waveguide, each with its resonance wavelength and full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) matched with one of the OH emission lines.
The SPT-3G receiver was commissioned in early 2017 on the 10-meter South Pole Telescope (SPT) to map anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). New optics, detector, and readout technologies have yielded a multichroic, high-resolution, low-noise camera with impressive throughput and sensitivity, offering the potential to improve our understanding of inflationary physics, astroparticle physics, and growth of structure. We highlight several key features and design principles of the new receiver, and summarize its performance to date.
The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a millimeter-wavelength telescope designed for high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The SPT measures both the temperature and polarization of the CMB with a large aperture, resulting in high resolution maps sensitive to signals across a wide range of angular scales on the sky. With these data, the SPT has the potential to make a broad range of cosmological measurements. These include constraining the effect of massive neutrinos on large-scale structure formation as well as cleaning galactic and cosmological foregrounds from CMB polarization data in future searches for inflationary gravitational waves. The SPT began observing in January 2017 with a new receiver (SPT-3G) containing ~16,000 polarization-sensitive transition-edge sensor bolometers. Several key technology developments have enabled this large-format focal plane, including advances in detectors, readout electronics, and large millimeter-wavelength optics. We discuss the implementation of these technologies in the SPT-3G receiver as well as the challenges they presented. In late 2017 the implementations of all three of these technologies were modified to optimize total performance. Here, we present the current instrument status of the SPT-3G receiver.
The third-generation instrument for the 10-meter South Pole Telescope, SPT-3G, was first installed in January 2017. In addition to completely new cryostats, secondary telescope optics, and readout electronics, the number of detectors in the focal plane has increased by an order of magnitude from previous instruments to ~16,000. The SPT-3G focal plane consists of ten detector modules, each with an array of 269 trichroic, polarization-sensitive pixels on a six-inch silicon wafer. Within each pixel is a broadband, dual-polarization sinuous antenna; the signal from each orthogonal linear polarization is divided into three frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz by in-line lumped element filters and transmitted via superconducting microstrip to Ti/Au transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Properties of the TES film, microstrip filters, and bolometer island must be tightly controlled to achieve optimal performance. For the second year of SPT-3G operation, we have replaced all ten wafers in the focal plane with new detector arrays tuned to increase mapping speed and improve overall performance. Here we discuss the TES superconducting transition temperature and normal resistance, detector saturation power, bandpasses, optical efficiency, and full array yield for the 2018 focal plane.
The desire for higher sensitivity has driven ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments to employ ever larger focal planes, which in turn require larger reimaging optics. Practical limits to the maximum size of these optics motivates the development of quasi-optically-coupled (lenslet-coupled), multi-chroic detectors. These detectors can be sensitive across a broader bandwidth compared to waveguide-coupled detectors. However, the increase in bandwidth comes at a cost: the lenses (up to ~700 mm diameter) and lenslets (~5 mm diameter, hemispherical lenses on the focal plane) used in these systems are made from high-refractive-index materials (such as silicon or amorphous aluminum oxide) that reflect nearly a third of the incident radiation. In order to maximize the faint CMB signal that reaches the detectors, the lenses and lenslets must be coated with an anti-reflective (AR) material. The AR coating must maximize radiation transmission in scientifically interesting bands and be cryogenically stable. Such a coating was developed for the third generation camera, SPT-3G, of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) experiment, but the materials and techniques used in the development are general to AR coatings for mm-wave optics. The three-layer polytetra uoroethylene-based AR coating is broadband, inexpensive, and can be manufactured with simple tools. The coating is field tested; AR coated focal plane elements were deployed in the 2016-2017 austral summer and AR coated reimaging optics were deployed in 2017-2018.
KEYWORDS: Resonators, Silicon, Waveguides, Semiconducting wafers, Astronomy, Near infrared, Space telescopes, Electron beams, Linear filtering, Polarization
Photonic ring resonators used as wavelength notch filters are a promising novel solution to enable astronomical instruments to remove the signal from atmospheric OH emission in the near-infrared wavelength range. We derive design requirements from theory and finite difference time domain simulations. We find rings with radii less than 10 microns provide an adequate free spectral range for silicon nitride abd less than 3 microns for silicon. One challenge for this application is the requirement for many rings in series to suppress particular wavelengths within 0.2nm. We report progress in fabricating both silicon and silicon nitride rings for OH suppression.
Integrated optics has the potential to play a transformative role in astronomical instrumentation. It has already made a significant impact in the field of optical interferometry, through the use of planar waveguide arrays for beam combination and phase-shifting. Additionally, the potential benefits of micro-spectrographs based on array waveguide gratings have also been demonstrated.
Here we examine a new application of integrated optics, using ring resonators as notch filters to remove the signal from atmospheric OH emission lines from astronomical spectra. We also briefly discuss their use as frequency combs for wavelength calibration and as drop filters for Doppler planet searches. We discuss the theoretical requirements for ring resonators for OH suppression. We find that small radius (< 10 μm), high index contrast (Si or Si3N4) rings are necessary to provide an adequate free spectral range. The suppression depth, resolving power, and throughput for efficient OH suppression can be realised with critically coupled rings with high self-coupling coefficients.
We report on preliminary laboratory tests of our Si and Si3N4 rings and give details of their fabrication. We demonstrate high self-coupling coefficients (> 0:9) and good control over the free spectral range and wavelength separation of multi-ring devices. Current devices have Q ≈ 4000 and ≈ 10 dB suppression, which should be improved through further optimisation of the coupling coefficients. The overall prospects for the use of ring resonators in astronomical instruments is promising, provided efficient fibre-chip coupling can be achieved.
H. T. Diehl, E. Neilsen, R. Gruendl, B. Yanny, T. M. Abbott, J. Aleksić, S. Allam, J. Annis, E. Balbinot, M. Baumer, L. Beaufore, K. Bechtol, G. Bernstein, S. Birrer, C. Bonnett, D. Brout, C. Bruderer, E. Buckley-Geer, D. Capozzi, A. Carnero Rosell, F. Castander, R. Cawthon, C. Chang, L. Clerkin, R. Covarrubias, C. Cuhna, C. D'Andrea, L. da Costa, R. Das, C. Davis, J. Dietrich, A. Drlica-Wagner, A. Elliott, T. Eifler, J. Etherington, B. Flaugher, J. Frieman, A. Fausti Neto, M. Fernández, C. Furlanetto, D. Gangkofner, D. Gerdes, D. Goldstein, K. Grabowski, R. Gupta, S. Hamilton, H. Head, J. Helsby, D. Hollowood, K. Honscheid, D. James, M. Johnson, S. Jouvel, T. Kacprzac, S. Kent, R. Kessler, A. Kim, E. Krause, C. Krawiec, A. Kremin, R. Kron, S. Kuhlmann, N. Kuropatkin, O. Lahav, J. Lasker, T. Li, E. Luque, N. Maccrann, M. March, J. Marshall, N. Mondrik, E. Morganson, D. Mudd, A. Nadolski, P. Nugent, P. Melchior, F. Menanteau, D. Nagasawa, B. Nord, R. Ogando, L. Old, A. Palmese, D. Petravick, A. Plazas, A. Pujol, A. Queiroz, K. Reil, A. Romer, R. Rosenfeld, A. Roodman, P. Rooney, M. Sako, A. Salvador, C. Sánchez, E. Sánchez Álvaro, B. Santiago, A. Schooneveld, M. Schubnell, E. Sheldon, A. Smith, R. Smith, M. Soares-Santos, F. Sobreira, M. Soumagnac, H. Spinka, S. Tie, D. Tucker, V. Vikram, K. Vivas, A. Walker, W. Wester, M. Wiesner, H. Wilcox, P. Williams, A. Zenteno, Y. Zhang, Z. Zhang
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is an operating optical survey aimed at understanding the accelerating expansion of the universe using four complementary methods: weak gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster counts, baryon acoustic oscillations, and Type Ia supernovae. To perform the 5000 sq-degree wide field and 30 sq-degree supernova surveys, the DES Collaboration built the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square-degree, 570-Megapixel CCD camera that was installed at the prime focus of the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). DES has completed its third observing season out of a nominal five. This paper describes DES “Year 1” (Y1) to “Year 3” (Y3), the strategy, an outline of the survey operations procedures, the efficiency of operations and the causes of lost observing time. It provides details about the quality of the first three season's data, and describes how we are adjusting the survey strategy in the face of the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
H. Diehl, T. M. Abbott, J. Annis, R. Armstrong, L. Baruah, A. Bermeo, G. Bernstein, E. Beynon, C. Bruderer, E. Buckley-Geer, H. Campbell, D. Capozzi, M. Carter, R. Casas, L. Clerkin, R. Covarrubias, C. Cuhna, C. D'Andrea, L. da Costa, R. Das, D. DePoy, J. Dietrich, A. Drlica-Wagner, A. Elliott, T. Eifler, J. Estrada, J. Etherington, B. Flaugher, J. Frieman, A. Fausti Neto, M. Gelman, D. Gerdes, D. Gruen, R. Gruendl, J. Hao, H. Head, J. Helsby, K. Hoffman, K. Honscheid, D. James, M. Johnson, T. Kacprzac, J. Katsaros, R. Kennedy, S. Kent, R. Kessler, A. Kim, E. Krause, R. Kron, S. Kuhlmann, A. Kunder, T. Li, H. Lin, N. Maccrann, M. March, J. Marshall, E. Neilsen, P. Nugent, P. Martini, P. Melchior, F. Menanteau, R. Nichol, B. Nord, R. Ogando, L. Old, A. Papadopoulos, K. Patton, D. Petravick, A. Plazas, R. Poulton, A. Pujol, K. Reil, T. Rigby, A. Romer, A. Roodman, P. Rooney, E. Sanchez Alvaro, S. Serrano, E. Sheldon, A. Smith, R. Smith, M. Soares-Santos, M. Soumagnac, H. Spinka, E. Suchyta, D. Tucker, A. Walker, W. Wester, M. Wiesner, H. Wilcox, R. Williams, B. Yanny, Y. Zhang
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a next generation optical survey aimed at understanding the accelerating expansion of the universe using four complementary methods: weak gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster counts, baryon acoustic oscillations, and Type Ia supernovae. To perform the 5000 sq-degree wide field and 30 sq-degree supernova surveys, the DES Collaboration built the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square-degree, 570-Megapixel CCD camera that was installed at the prime focus of the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). DES started its first observing season on August 31, 2013 and observed for 105 nights through mid-February 2014. This paper describes DES “Year 1” (Y1), the strategy and goals for the first year's data, provides an outline of the operations procedures, lists the efficiency of survey operations and the causes of lost observing time, provides details about the quality of the first year's data, and hints at the “Year 2” plan and outlook.
The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) is a new 520 Mega Pixel CCD camera with a 3 square degree field of view built for
the Dark Energy Survey (DES). DECam is mounted at the prime focus of the Blanco 4-m telescope at the Cerro-Tololo
International Observatory (CTIO). DES is a 5-year, high precision, multi-bandpass, photometric survey of 5000 square
degrees of the southern sky that started August 2013. In this paper we briefly review SISPI, the data acquisition and
control system of the Dark Energy Camera and follow with a discussion of our experience with the system and the
lessons learned after one year of survey operations.
The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) is a new 520 Mega Pixel CCD camera with a 3 square degree field of view designed
for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). DES is a high precision, multi-bandpass, photometric survey of 5000 square degrees
of the southern sky. DECam is currently being installed at the prime focus of the Blanco 4-m telescope at the Cerro-
Tololo International Observatory (CTIO). In this paper we describe SISPI, the data acquisition and control system of the
Dark Energy Camera. SISPI is implemented as a distributed multi-processor system with a software architecture based
on the Client-Server and Publish-Subscribe design patterns. The underlying message passing protocol is based on
PYRO, a powerful distributed object technology system written entirely in Python. A distributed shared variable system
was added to support exchange of telemetry data and other information between different components of the system. We
discuss the SISPI infrastructure software, the image pipeline, the observer console and user interface architecture, image
quality monitoring, the instrument control system, and the observation strategy tool.
The Dark Energy Camera and its cooling system has been shipped to Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile
for installation onto the Blanco 4m telescope. Along with the camera, the cooling system has been installed in the Coudé
room at the Blanco Telescope. Final installation of the cooling system and operations on the telescope is planned for the
middle of 2012. Initial commissioning experiences and cooling system performance is described.
The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration has completed construction of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square
degree, 570 Megapixel CCD camera which will be mounted on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at CTIO. DECam will be
used to perform the 5000 sq. deg. Dark Energy Survey with 30% of the telescope time over a 5 year period. During the
remainder of the time, and after the survey, DECam will be available as a community instrument. All components of
DECam have been shipped to Chile and post-shipping checkout finished in Jan. 2012. Installation is in progress. A
summary of lessons learned and an update of the performance of DECam and the status of the DECam installation and
commissioning will be presented.
The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) is the new wide field prime-focus imager for the Blanco 4m telescope at CTIO. This
instrument is a 3 sq. deg. camera with a 45 cm diameter focal plane consisting of 62 2k × 4k CCDs and 12 2k × 2k CCDs
and was developed for the Dark Energy Survey that will start operations at CTIO in 2011. The DECam CCD array is
inside the imager vessel. The focal plate is cooled using a closed loop liquid nitrogen system. As part of the development
of the mechanical and cooling design, a full scale prototype imager vessel has been constructed and is now being used
for Multi-CCD readout tests. The cryogenic cooling system and thermal controls are described along with cooling
results from the prototype camera. The cooling system layout on the Blanco telescope in Chile is described.
The Dark Energy Camera is a new prime-focus instrument to be delivered to the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro
Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in 2011. Construction is in-progress at this time at Fermilab. In order to
verify that the camera meets technical specifications for the Dark Energy Survey and to reduce the time required to
commission the instrument while it is on the telescope, we are constructing a "Telescope Simulator" and performing full
system testing prior to shipping to CTIO. This presentation will describe the Telescope Simulator and how we use it to
verify some of the technical specifications.
Jacob Eiting, Ann Elliott, Klaus Honscheid, Jim Annis, Elizabeth Buckley-Geer, William Wester, Michael Haney, William Hanlon, Inga Karliner, Jon Thaler, Mark Meyer, Marco Bonati, German Schumacher, Kyler Kuehn, Stephen Kuhlmann, Terry Schalk, Stuart Marshall, Aaron Roodman
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a 5000 square degree survey of the southern galactic cap set to take place
on the Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerra Tololo Inter-American Observatory. A new 500 MP camera and control
system are being developed for this survey. To facilitate the data acquisition and control, a new user interface
is being designed that utilizes the massive improvements in web based technologies in the past year. The work
being done on DES shows that these new technologies provide the functionality and performance required to
provide a productive and enjoyable user experience in the browser.
K. Honscheid, J. Eiting, A. Elliott, J. Annis, M. Bonati, E. Buckley-Geer, F. Castander, L. da Costa, M. Haney, W. Hanlon, I. Karliner, K. Kuehn, S. Kuhlmann, S. Marshall, M. Meyer, E. Neilsen, R. Ogando, A. Roodman, T. Schalk, G. Schumacher, M. Selen, S. Serrano, J. Thaler, W. Wester
In this paper we describe the data acquisition and control system of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam),
which will be the primary instrument used in the Dark Energy Survey (DES). DES is a high precision multibandpath
wide area survey of 5000 square degrees of the southern sky. DECam currently under construction
at Fermilab will be a 3 square degree mosaic camera mounted at the prime focus of the Blanco 4m telescope
at the Cerro-Tololo International Observatory (CTIO). The DECam data acquisition system (SISPI) is
implemented as a distributed multi-processor system with a software architecture built on the Client-Server
and Publish-Subscribe design patterns. The underlying message passing protocol is based on PYRO, a
powerful distributed object technology system written entirely in Python. A distributed shared variable
system was added to support exchange of telemetry data and other information between different components
of the system. In this paper we discuss the SISPI infrastructure software, the image pipeline, the observer
interface and quality monitoring system, and the instrument control system.
The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration is building the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square degree, 520
Megapixel CCD camera which will be mounted on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at CTIO. DECam will be used to
perform the 5000 sq. deg. Dark Energy Survey with 30% of the telescope time over a 5 year period. During the
remainder of the time, and after the survey, DECam will be available as a community instrument. Construction of
DECam is well underway. Integration and testing of the major system components has already begun at Fermilab and
the collaborating institutions.
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