TY - JOUR
T1 - First light demonstration of the integrated superconducting spectrometer
AU - Endo, Akira
AU - Karatsu, Kenichi
AU - Bosma, Sjoerd
AU - Ikarashi, Soh
AU - Klapwijk, Teun M.
AU - Llombart, Nuria
AU - Pascual Laguna, Alejandro
AU - Thoen, David J.
AU - de Visser, Pieter J.
AU - Yurduseven, Ozan
AU - Baselmans, Jochem J.A.
AU - More Authors, null
N1 - Accepted Author Manuscript
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Ultra-wideband, three-dimensional (3D) imaging spectrometry in the millimeter–submillimeter (mm–submm) band is an essential tool for uncovering the dust-enshrouded portion of the cosmic history of star formation and galaxy evolution1–3. However, it is challenging to scale up conventional coherent heterodyne receivers4 or free-space diffraction techniques5 to sufficient bandwidths (≥1 octave) and numbers of spatial pixels2,3 (>102). Here, we present the design and astronomical spectra of an intrinsically scalable, integrated superconducting spectrometer6, which covers 332–377 GHz with a spectral resolution of F/ΔF ~ 380. It combines the multiplexing advantage of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs)7 with planar superconducting filters for dispersing the signal in a single, small superconducting integrated circuit. We demonstrate the two key applications for an instrument of this type: as an efficient redshift machine and as a fast multi-line spectral mapper of extended areas. The line detection sensitivity is in excellent agreement with the instrument design and laboratory performance, reaching the atmospheric foreground photon noise limit on-sky. The design can be scaled to bandwidths in excess of an octave, spectral resolution up to a few thousand and frequencies up to ~1.1 THz. The miniature chip footprint of a few cm2 allows for compact multi-pixel spectral imagers, which would enable spectroscopic direct imaging and large-volume spectroscopic surveys that are several orders of magnitude faster than what is currently possible1–3.
AB - Ultra-wideband, three-dimensional (3D) imaging spectrometry in the millimeter–submillimeter (mm–submm) band is an essential tool for uncovering the dust-enshrouded portion of the cosmic history of star formation and galaxy evolution1–3. However, it is challenging to scale up conventional coherent heterodyne receivers4 or free-space diffraction techniques5 to sufficient bandwidths (≥1 octave) and numbers of spatial pixels2,3 (>102). Here, we present the design and astronomical spectra of an intrinsically scalable, integrated superconducting spectrometer6, which covers 332–377 GHz with a spectral resolution of F/ΔF ~ 380. It combines the multiplexing advantage of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs)7 with planar superconducting filters for dispersing the signal in a single, small superconducting integrated circuit. We demonstrate the two key applications for an instrument of this type: as an efficient redshift machine and as a fast multi-line spectral mapper of extended areas. The line detection sensitivity is in excellent agreement with the instrument design and laboratory performance, reaching the atmospheric foreground photon noise limit on-sky. The design can be scaled to bandwidths in excess of an octave, spectral resolution up to a few thousand and frequencies up to ~1.1 THz. The miniature chip footprint of a few cm2 allows for compact multi-pixel spectral imagers, which would enable spectroscopic direct imaging and large-volume spectroscopic surveys that are several orders of magnitude faster than what is currently possible1–3.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070234419&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41550-019-0850-8
DO - 10.1038/s41550-019-0850-8
M3 - Letter
AN - SCOPUS:85070234419
VL - 3
SP - 989
EP - 996
JO - Nature Astronomy
JF - Nature Astronomy
SN - 2397-3366
IS - 11
ER -