An often unglamorous, yet critical, part of most millimeter/submillimeter astronomical instruments is cryogenic temperature monitoring and control. Depending on the operating wavelength of the instrument and detector technology, this could be stable temperatures in the Kelvin range for millimeter heterodyne systems to 100 mK temperatures at sub-micro-Kelvin stability as for many submillimeter bolometer systems. Here we describe a project of the HARDWARE.astronomy initiative to build a low-cost open-source temperature monitoring and control system. The HARDWARE.astronomy Housekeeping Box, or H.aHk Box (pronounced “hack box”) is developed primarily by undergraduates and employs existing open-source devices (e.g Arduino, Raspberry Pi) to reduce costs while also limiting the complexity of the development. The H.aHk Box features a chassis with a control computer and ten expansion slots that can be filled with a variety of expansion cards. These cards include initially an AC 4-wire temperature monitor and PID control cards. Future work will develop 2-wire temperature monitors, stepper motor controller, and high-power supply. The base-system will also be able to interface with other house-keeping systems over USB, serial port and ethernet. The first deployment of the H.aHk Box will be for the ZEUS-2 submillimeter grating spectrometer. All designs, firmware, software and parts list will be published online allowing for other projects to adopt the system and create custom expansion cards as needed. Here we describe the design (including mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software components) and initial performance of the H.aHk Box system with initial AC/DC 4-wire and PID cards.
We present recent developments on Cornell’s 2nd generation z (redshift) and Early Universe Spectrometer (ZEUS-2). ZEUS-2 is a long-slit echelle-grating spectrometer, originally implemented to deliver R∼1000 spectroscopy in the 350-, and 450-micron telluric windows using NIST Transition-Edge Sensed (TES) bolometer arrays. We have expanded its capabilities to also cover the 200-micron window, and present first-light data for the new array from our 2019 observing campaign on the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope. We also discuss the various enhancements we have implemented to improve observing efficiency and noise performance, including identifying and mitigating vibrations in hardware and improving the stability and robustness of the control software for the detector temperature. Furthermore, we have implemented several software routines to interface with the telescope control systems. These improvements, demonstrated during our recent observing campaign in Nov-Dec 2021, resulted in enhanced reliability and ease of operation, as well as increased sensitivity. A data-driven software pipeline, leveraging data from all 300 detectors on the array to remove common-mode noise, was implemented, and noise performance was further improved by robustly detecting unstable detectors and disabling them during observations.
Far-infrared astronomy has advanced rapidly since its inception in the late 1950s, driven by a maturing technology base and an expanding community of researchers. This advancement has shown that observations at far-infrared wavelengths are important in nearly all areas of astrophysics, from the search for habitable planets and the origin of life to the earliest stages of galaxy assembly in the first few hundred million years of cosmic history. The combination of a still-developing portfolio of technologies, particularly in the field of detectors, and a widening ensemble of platforms within which these technologies can be deployed, means that far-infrared astronomy holds the potential for paradigm-shifting advances over the next decade. We examine the current and future far-infrared observing platforms, including ground-based, suborbital, and space-based facilities, and discuss the technology development pathways that will enable and enhance these platforms to best address the challenges facing far-infrared astronomy in the 21st century.
There have been several exciting developments in the technologies commonly used n in the hardware hacking community. Advances in low cost additive-manufacturing processes (i.e. 3D-printers) and the development of openhardware projects, which have produced inexpensive and easily programmable micro-controllers and micro-computers (i.e. Arduino and Raspberry Pi) have opened a new door for individuals seeking to make their own devices. Here we describe the potential for these technologies to reduce costs in construction and development of submillimeter/millimeter astronomical instrumentation. Specifically we have begun a program to measure the optical properties of the custom plastics used in 3D-printers as well as the printer accuracy and resolution to assess the feasibility of directly printing sub- /millimeter transmissive optics. We will also discuss low cost designs for cryogenic temperature measurement and control utilizing Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
We have built a new long-slit grating spectrometer (ZEUS-2) for observations in the submillimeter wavelength regime (200-650 μm). ZEUS-2 is optimized for observations of redshifted far-infrared spectral lines from galaxies in the early Universe. The spectrometer employs three transition-edge sensed bolometer arrays, allowing for simultaneous observations of multiple lines in several telluric windows. Here we will discuss the optical, mechanical, and thermal requirements of ZEUS-2 and their subsequent design and performance. The entire instrument is cooled using a pulse tube cryocooler and an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The cryogen-free approach enables remote control of the cooling system and allows for deployment of ZEUS-2 to telescope sites where access is limited. The compact and lightweight design is also within the size and weight constraints of several submm telescopes, making ZEUS-2 deployable at a variety of sites. ZEUS-2 completed a successful engineering run at the CSO on Mauna Kea in May 2012, and we plan to have our science-grade array system deployed on the APEX telescope in Chile for a science run in the fall of 2012.
We have recently commissioned the 2nd generation redshift(z) and Early Universe Spectrometer (ZEUS-2) at the Caltech
Submillimeter Observatory. ZEUS-2 is a long-slit grating spectrometer (R~1000) for observations in the submillimeter
wavelength regime that is optimized for observations of redshifted far-infrared spectral lines from galaxies in the early
universe. Here we report on the design and first light performance of the first TES bolometer array installed in ZEUS-2.
This array features 280 pixels each 1.26 mm square and arranged to provide ~35 pixel spectra at ~8 spatial positions on
the sky. A 1/4-wavelength back short of 100 micron and gold mesh absorber matching the impedance of free space
provides near 90% quantum efficiency for the 350 and 450 micron telluric windows. Array readout is done using SQUID
multiplexers and the Multichannel Electronics. We will also report on the progress to install two additional arrays tuned
to provide similar performance across the remaining telluric windows between 200-850 microns.
ZEUS-2, the second generation (z)Redshift and Early Universe Spectrometer, like its predecessor is a moderate
resolution (R~1000) long-slit, echelle grating spectrometer optimized for the detection of faint, broad lines from distant
galaxies. It is designed for studying star-formation across cosmic time. ZEUS-2 employs three TES bolometer arrays
(555 pixels total) to deliver simultaneous, multi-beam spectra in up to 4 submillimeter windows. The NIST Boulder-built
arrays operate at ~100mK and are readout via SQUID multiplexers and the Multi-Channel Electronics from the
University of British Columbia. The instrument is cooled via a pulse-tube cooler and two-stage ADR. Various filter
configurations give ZEUS-2 access to 7 different telluric windows from 200 to 850 micron enabling the simultaneous
mapping of lines from extended sources or the simultaneous detection of the 158 micron [CII] line and the [NII] 122 or
205 micron lines from z = 1-2 galaxies. ZEUS-2 is designed for use on the CSO, APEX and possibly JCMT.
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