Development of a broadband submillimeter grating spectrometer

Dominic J. Benford; Eugene Serabyn; Thomas G. Phillips; Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.317363

31 July 1998 Development of a broadband submillimeter grating spectrometer

Dominic J. Benford, Eugene Serabyn, Thomas G. Phillips, Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr.

Proceedings Volume 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317363
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

One of the central issues in astronomy is the formation and evolution of galaxies at large redshifts. Submillimeter observations are essential to understanding these processes. One of the best prospects for high redshift submillimeter observations is the study of the C_II 158 micrometer fine- structure line, which carries about 0.2% of the total luminosity of nearby starburst galaxies. However, current heterodyne receivers at submillimeter observatories have insufficient bandwidth to detect the full extent of highly broadened emission lines. We are developing a broadband grating spectrometer for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory with a total bandwidth of approximately 3400 km/s and a velocity resolution of 200 km/s. The detectors will be a linear array of 32 close-packed monolithic silicon bolometers developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In order to achieve background-limited sensitivity, the bolometers will be cooled to 100 mK by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The spectrometer optics will consist of a tunable cryogenic immersion grating using broadband filters as order sorters. The spectrometer will be optimized to operate in the 350 micrometer and 450 micrometer atmospheric windows. Calculations of the sensitivity of the spectrometer reveal that an ultraluminous infrared galaxy of 10¹² Lqq at a redshift of z equals 1 would be detectable at the 3(sigma) level in the C_II line with 20 minutes of integration time.

Citation Download Citation

Dominic J. Benford, Eugene Serabyn, Thomas G. Phillips, and Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr. "Development of a broadband submillimeter grating spectrometer", Proc. SPIE 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes, (31 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317363

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available