In cryogenics, working together with cryocoolers, the thermal straps are a critical thermal element, since they thermally link the instrument with the cold source. In optical elements that work at cryogenic temperatures, the thermal path, and therefore the straps, must isolate them from the vibrations of the cryocoolers. Consequently, its stiffness is a characteristic to consider in the design. But, in the case of optical focal plane arrays, working at very low temperatures such as 50 mK, it can be resonant with the low frequency range of the cryocoolers, and its dissipation can break the superconducting state of the sensors, the basis of its functioning. It is therefore an undesired thermal effect derived from structural behavior. Design limitations impose the need for straps where stiffness is just as important as its conductance. The stiffness value needed is much lower than the one found in commercial straps. Therefore, this work highlights the design, and characterization tests of different strap prototypes in order to achieve the necessary resistivity and thermal conductivity for low cryogenic temperatures. The thermal straps were initially designed for the Cryostat facility for 2K Core Calibration (C2CC) a ground equipment for the ATHENA project (Advanced Telescope for High - ENergy Astrophysics, ESA).
KEYWORDS: Bolometers, Sensors, Polarization, Polarimetry, Silicon, Space observatories, Mirrors, Magnetism, Semiconductors, Picture Archiving and Communication System
We present the B-BOP instrument, a polarimetric camera on board the future ESA-JAXA SPICA far-infrared space observatory. B-BOP will allow the study of the magnetic field in various astrophysical environments thanks to its unprecedented ability to measure the linear polarization of the submillimeter light. The maps produced by B-BOP will contain not only information on total power, but also on the degree and the angle of polarization, simultaneously in three spectral bands (70, 200 and 350 microns). The B-BOP detectors are ultra-sensitive silicon bolometers that are intrinsically sensitive to polarization. Their NEP is close to 10E-18 W/sqrt(Hz). We will present the optical and thermal architectures of the instrument, we will detail the bolometer design and we will show the expected performances of the instrument based on preliminary lab work.
This paper describes the end-to-end opto-mechanical design of the SAFARI instrument on SPICA and the analysis of the spectrometer optical performances. SAFARI instrument is a high sensitivity grating-based spectrometer operating in the 34-230 μm wavelength range. The scientific drivers lead to the implementation of two modes of operation. The Low- Resolution (LR) or nominal mode (R~300) and the High-Resolution (HR), that implies to include a Martin-Puplett Fourier Transform Spectrometer (MP-FTS) to achieve the required spectral resolution (R~2000-11000). The optical system is all-reflective and consists of three main modules. The input optics module (IOM) is an unobscured reflective Offner relay. In the IOM a Beam Steering Mirror (BSM) is included for spatial modulation and to allow efficient sky mapping. The Band and Mode Distributing Optics (BMDO) module splits the radiation band into the four different spectral bands and includes the MP-FTS. The field image existing at the output of the BMDO constitutes the entrance to the Grating Module Optics (GM). These modules provide spectral dispersion by means of linear and reflective diffraction gratings and the final image onto the detectors. Performances of the GMs are high demanding with a detector divided into 2 sub-bands with a different pixel size for each sub-band.
SPICA provided the next step in mid- and far-infrared astronomical research and was a candidate of ESA's fifth medium class Cosmic Vision mission. SAFARI is one of the spectroscopic instruments on board SPICA. The Focal Plane Unit (FPU) design and analysis represent a challenge both from the mechanical and thermal point of view, as the instrument is working at cryogenic temperatures between 4.8K and 0.05K. Being a large instrument, with a current best estimate of 148,7kg of mass, its design will have to be optimized to fit within the mission´s mass and volume budget. The FPU will also have to be designed for its modularity and accessibility due to the large number of subsystems that SAFARI had to accommodate, highlighting Fourier Transform Spectrometer Mechanism (FTSM) and the three grating-based point source spectrometer modules (GM) which operates at 1.7K in the FPU, the latter representing 60% of the total mass of the instrument
SAFARI is a point source spectrometer for the SPICA mission, which provides far-infrared spectroscopy and high sensitivity. SPICA mission, having a large cold telescope cooled to 6K above absolute zero, will provide an optimum environment where instruments are limited only by the cosmic background. SAFARI is a grating-based spectrometer with two modes of operation, Low Resolution (LR), or nominal mode (R~300) and High Resolution, (HR) (R~2000-11000). The SAFARI shall provide point source spectroscopy with diffraction-limited capability in four spectral bands over 34-230μm and a field of view (FoV) on sky over 2’×2’. Due to the complexity of the optical design of the SAFARI instrument a modular design was selected. Four principal modules are defined: Calibration Module (CS), Input Optics Module (IOM), Beam and Mode Distribution (BMDO) and Grating Modules (GMs). The present work is focused in the last module. Dispersive optical systems inherently demand the need of volume allocation for the optical system, being this fact somehow proportional to the wavelength and the required resolving power. The image sampling and the size of the detector elements are key drivers in this optical modular design. The optimization process has been performed taking into account the conceptual design parameters obtained during this phase such as collimator and camera optics focal lengths, subsystem diameters and periods and AOIs of the diffraction gratings.
SpicA FAR infrared Instrument, SAFARI, is an imaging spectrometer which is being designed to map large areas of the sky in the far infrared. The SPICA mission, having a large cold telescope cooled to 6K above absolute zero, will provide an optimum environment where instruments are limited only by the cosmic background itself.
SpicA FAR infrared Instrument, SAFARI, is one of the instruments planned for the SPICA mission. The SPICA
mission is the next great leap forward in space-based far-infrared astronomy and will study the evolution of galaxies,
stars and planetary systems. SPICA will utilize a deeply cooled 2.5m-class telescope, provided by European industry, to
realize zodiacal background limited performance, and high spatial resolution. The instrument SAFARI is a cryogenic
grating-based point source spectrometer working in the wavelength domain 34 to 230 μm, providing spectral resolving
power from 300 to at least 2000.
The instrument shall provide low and high resolution spectroscopy in four spectral bands. Low Resolution mode is the
native instrument mode, while the high Resolution mode is achieved by means of a Martin-Pupplet interferometer.
The optical system is all-reflective and consists of three main modules; an input optics module, followed by the Band
and Mode Distributing Optics and the grating Modules. The instrument utilizes Nyquist sampled filled linear arrays of
very sensitive TES detectors.
The work presented in this paper describes the optical design architecture and design concept compatible with the
current instrument performance and volume design drivers.
In the last two decades, Spain has built up a strong IR community which has successfully contributed to space instruments, reaching Co-PI level in the SPICA mission (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics). Under the SPICA mission, INTA, focused on the SAFARI instrument requirements but highly adaptable to other missions has designed a cryogenic low dissipation filter wheel with six positions, taking as starting point the past experience of the team with the OSIRIS instrument (ROSETTA mission) filter wheels and adapting the design to work at cryogenic temperatures. One of the main goals of the mechanism is to use as much as possible commercial components and test them at cryogenic temperature. This paper is focused on the design of the filter wheel, including the material selection for each of the main components of the mechanism, the design of elastic mount for the filter assembly, a positioner device designed to provide positional accuracy and repeatability to the filter, allowing the locking of the position without dissipation. In order to know the position of the wheel on every moment a position sensor based on a Hall sensor was developed. A series of cryogenic tests have been performed in order to validate the material configuration selected, the ball bearing lubrication and the selection of the motor. A stepper motor characterization campaign was performed including heat dissipation measurements. The result is a six position filter wheel highly adaptable to different configurations and motors using commercial components. The mechanism was successfully tested at INTA facilities at 20K at breadboard level.
This paper describes the optical design of the far infrared imaging spectrometer for the JAXA’s SPICA mission. The SAFARI instrument, is a cryogenic imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (iFTS), designed to perform backgroundlimited spectroscopic and photometric imaging in the band 34-210 μm. The all-reflective optical system is highly modular and consists of three main modules; input optics module, interferometer module (FTS) and camera bay optics. A special study has been dedicated to the spectroscopic performance of the instrument, in which the spectral response and interference of the instrument have been modeled, as the FTS mechanism scans over the total desired OPD range.
The Safari instrument on the Japanese SPICA mission is a zodiacal background limited imaging spectrometer offering a
photometric imaging (R ≈ 2), and a low (R = 100) and medium spectral resolution (R = 2000 at 100 μm) spectroscopy
mode in three photometric bands covering the 34-210 μm wavelength range. The instrument utilizes Nyquist sampled
filled arrays of very sensitive TES detectors providing a 2’x2’ instantaneous field of view. The all-reflective optical
system of Safari is highly modular and consists of an input optics module containing the entrance shutter, a calibration
source and a pair of filter wheels, followed by an interferometer and finally the camera bay optics accommodating the
focal-plane arrays. The optical design is largely driven and constrained by volume inviting for a compact three-dimensional
arrangement of the interferometer and camera bay optics without compromising the optical performance
requirements associated with a diffraction- and background-limited spectroscopic imaging instrument. Central to the
optics we present a flexible and compact non-polarizing Mach-Zehnder interferometer layout, with dual input and output
ports, employing a novel FTS scan mechanism based on magnetic bearings and a linear motor. In this paper we discuss
the conceptual design of the focal-plane optics and describe how we implement the optical instrument functions, define
the photometric bands, deal with straylight control, diffraction and thermal emission in the long-wavelength limit and
interface to the large-format FPA arrays at one end and the SPICA telescope assembly at the other end.
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