Auto-Correlation Spectral Imaging System (ACSIS) is an IF, correlation, reduction, and display system for the submillimeter telescope James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). It can produce calibrated spectral images in real time and enables rapid imaging of large areas of the sky over a wide spectral range or at high resolution from up to 16 receiver feeds. Now more than 20 years old, the original 8-10GHz synthesizers for the down conversion module are obsolete and no longer available. Due to the hardware changes in the new 4-10GHz model, an interface circuit is needed to shorten the rise time of the serial clock signal. Further upgrades can better support wide IF band 2-12GHz receiver applications, such as Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) band-6 receivers. This paper discusses the observatory’s development of a new correlator that utilizes several existing electronics to support current and future receivers.
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is the largest single dish telescope in the world focused on submillimeter astronomy - and it remains at the forefront of sub-millimeter discovery space. JCMT continues its push for higher efficiency and greater science impact with a switch to fully remote operation. This switch to remote operations occurred on November 1st 2019. The switch to remote operations should be recognized to be part of a decade long process involving incremental changes leading to Extended Observing - observing beyond the classical night shift - and eventually to full remote operations. The success of Remote Observing is indicated in the number of productive hours and continued low fault rate from before and after the switch.
Most telescope proposal science cases are governed by the need to achieve a given SNR (Signal-to-noise ratio). However, traditionally telescopes award applicants a certain number of hours rather than an SNR or noise. Noise calculators cannot solve this problem entirely, due to variations in weather, elevation and instrument performance when an observation is actually carried out. The JCMT is currently shifting towards awarding users (when appropriate) a given RMS towards their source/s instead of a time spent observing, initially for our new 230 GHz instrument Ū ū. The JCMT already had many necessary parts of this process in place (noise calculators, a robust ‘live’ pipeline, and an extremely flexible queue based system). This presentation describes our efforts to start implementing this process for our users, discusses the necessary systems and software required, and describes the lessons applicable for other observatories.
We have fabricated new superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers chips for the 16-element Heterodyne Array Receiver Program (HARP) instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The original spare mixer chips were limited and not performed as well as the used ones in HARP. The ability to manufacture new mixer chips would therefore be important for the repair and upgrade of HARP. Our immediate goal is to replace the current nonfunctional mixers in HARP with new chips. We modified the designs of waveguide probe and the matching circuit of the SIS mixer chip. The newly designed chips were fabricated with a quality factor (Rsg/Rn) over 10. The double-sideband (DSB) receiver noise temperature (Trx) is lower than 80K at frequencies between 325 GHz and 375 GHz, which is comparable to the best of the original devices. Three of the sixteen mixers have been replaced and they work very well.
Namakanui is an instrument containing three inserts in an ALMA type Dewar. The three inserts are ‘Ala’ihi, ‘U’ū and ‘Āweoweo operating around 86, 230 and 345GHz. The receiver is being commissioned on the JCMT. It will be used for both Single dish and VLBI observations. We will present commissioning results and the system.
The Greenland Telescope project has recently participated in an experiment to image the supermassive black hole shadow at the center of M87 using Very Long Baseline Interferometry technique in April of 2018. The antenna consists of the 12-m ALMA North American prototype antenna that was modified to support two auxiliary side containers and to withstand an extremely cold environment. The telescope is currently at Thule Air Base in Greenland with the long-term goal to move the telescope over the Greenland ice sheet to Summit Station. The GLT currently has a single cryostat which houses three dual polarization receivers that cover 84-96 GHz, 213-243 GHz and 271-377 GHz bands. A hydrogen maser frequency source in conjunction with high frequency synthesizers are used to generate the local oscillator references for the receivers. The intermediate frequency outputs of each receiver cover 4-8 GHz and are heterodyned to baseband for digitization within a set of ROACH-2 units then formatted for recording onto Mark-6 data recorders. A separate set of ROACH-2 units operating in parallel provides the function of auto-correlation for real-time spectral analysis. Due to the stringent instrumental stability requirements for interferometry a diagnostic test system was incorporated into the design. Tying all of the above equipment together is the fiber optic system designed to operate in a low temperature environment and scalable to accommodate a larger distance between the control module and telescope for Summit Station. A report on the progress of the above electronics instrumentation system will be provided.
SCUBA-2 is a world leading wide field submillimeter camera on the JCMT with two, large format background limited TES arrays, which are used to image simultaneously in the 450μm and 850um atmospheric windows. SCUBA-2 has been producing excellent science for over 6 years however, as we reported previously, excess in-band power loading of the arrays is a concern. One possibility that we considered was that the currently installed hot-pressed filters at the 4K stage were being warmed significantly above 4K by incoming infrared radiation. In an attempt to reduce the power loading we cryogenically tested a new 60K filter stack that incorporated a redesigned thermal blocking filter. A direct comparison was then made to the performance of the existing 60K filter stack installed in SCUBA-2. We saw a tremendous improvement in the infrared rejection with the new design and proceeded to install the new filter stack into SCUBA-2.
In this paper, we describe the testing and installation of the new and improved design of thermal blocking filter into the instrument and report the resulting performance change based on data from the first 12 months of science operation with the new filters. We also present the combined filter bandpass profiles as measured in-situ with FTS-2.
A three-cartridge cryogenic receiver system is constructed for the Greenland Telescope Project. The system is equipped with a set of sub-millimeter receivers operating at 86, 230, and 345 GHz, as well as a complete set of instruments for calibration, control and monitoring. It is single pixel instrument built for VLBI observations. With the receiver system, the GLT has completed commissioning of its 12-m sub-millimeter antenna and participated in global very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations at Thule Air Base (TAB). This paper describes the receiver specification, construction, and verification.
The Sub-millimeter Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) large format Transition Edge Sensor (TES) arrays are optimized to maximize mapping speed with two commissioned regular observing scan patterns. The ancillary instruments POLarimeter 2 (POL-2) and Fourier Transform Spectrometer 2 (FTS-2) impose different demands on the arrays compared to regular stand-alone SCUBA-2 observing. This includes a change in the background optical power loading on the arrays and a requirement for a larger dynamic range from the individual TES bolometers. In this paper, we discuss the process for optimizing the TES arrays specifically for POL-2 and FTS-2 operations and report the improvements that we have obtained.
The Greenland Telescope (GLT) project and the East Asian Observatory (EAO) successfully commissioned the first light GLT instrument at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii, prior to transferring the instrument to Greenland. The GLT instrument which comprises of a cryostat with three cartridge-type receivers (at 86GHz, 230GHz and 345GHz) was installed into the receiver cabin of JCMT and operated in three modes: - (a) Regular JCMT observing with the GLT instrument, using ACSIS, (JCMT’s autocorrelation spectrometer) as the backend and JCMT software for telescope control, data reduction, pointing and antenna focus adjustment. (b) Single dish observations of astronomical spectral line sources, recording data onto mark 6 recorders for offline data reduction. (c) eSMA interferometer array observations at 230GHz in conjunction with the SMA. In this paper, we report on the installation and integration of the GLT instrument at JCMT, present results from commissioning and show how the success of the GLT instrument commissioning fits with our plans for future instrumentation at JCMT.
Sub-millimeter polarization observations using the POL-2 instrument mounted on the dual wavelength (850/450 μm) 10 k pixel sub-millimeter camera SCUBA-2 is in high demand on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The high level of Instrumental Polarization (IP) generated by the Gore-TexTM wind blind protecting the telescope is a hampering factor for these observations. The wind blind both introduces an overall linear polarization and a four lobed polarization footprint seen on strong point sources after removal of a beam averaged IP. During commissioning an IP model was developed for the 850 μm band but a good 450 μm model was lacking. This paper describes the effort to improve the 850 μm IP model, establish a 450 μm model and the work to understand and model the IP. During the work the wind blind was removed for a month to isolate the contribution of the wind blind from other sources of the IP. A theoretical model for the non wind blind generated IP has been developed. However, a theoretical model for the wind blind IP is still being worked on.
We describe the control and monitoring system for the Greenland Telescope (GLT). The GLT is a 12-m radio telescope aiming to carry out the sub-millimeter Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations and image the shadow of the super massive black hole in M87. In November 2017 construction has been finished and commissioning activity has been started. In April 2018 we participated in the VLBI observing campaign for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration. In this paper we present the entire GLT control/monitoring system in terms of computers, network and software.
The Greenland Telescope Project (GLT) has successfully commissioned its 12-m sub-millimeter. In January 2018, the fringes were detected between the GLT and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) during a very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) exercise. In April 2018, the telescope participated in global VLBI science observations at Thule Air Base (TAB). The telescope has been completely rebuilt, with many new components, from the ALMA NA (North America) Prototype antenna and equipped with a new set of sub-millimeter receivers operating at 86, 230, and 345 GHz, as well as a complete set of instruments and VLBI backends. This paper describes our progress and status of the project and its plan for the coming decade.
The Greenland Telescope completed its construction, so the commissioning phase has been started since December 2017. Single-dish commissioning has started from the optical pointing which produced the first pointing model, followed by the radio pointing and focusing using the Moon for both the 86 GHz and the 230 GHz receivers. After Venus started to rise from the horizon, the focus positions has been improved for both receivers. Once we started the line pointing using the SiO(2-1) maser line and the CO(2-1) line for the 86 GHz and the 230 GHz receivers, respectively, the pointing accuracy also improved, and the final pointing accuracy turned to be around 3" - 5" for both receivers. In parallel, VLBI commissioning has been performed, with checking the frequency accuracy and the phase stability for all the components that would be used for the VLBI observations. After all the checks, we successfully joined the dress rehearsals and actual observations of the 86 GHz and 230 GHz VLBI observations, The first dress rehearsal data between GLT and ALMA were correlated, and successfully detected the first fringe, which confirmed that the GLT commissioning was successfully performed.
Under the new operational purview of the East Asian Observatory, the JCMT continues to produce premier wide-field submillimetre science. Now the Observatory looks to embark on an ambitious series of instrumentation upgrades and opportunities to keep the telescope at the bleeding edge of its performance capabilities, whilst harnessing the collaborative expertise of the participating EAO regions and its JCMT partners. New heterodyne instruments include a new receiver at 230 GHz, a super array (90 pixels) at 345 GHz and the upgrade possibilities for the continuum camera SCUBA-2. In addition, the opportunities for PI and visiting instruments, including TimePilot and Gismo-2 will be described.
SCUBA-2 is a state of the art wide field camera on the JCMT. SCUBA-2 has been fully operational since November
2011, producing a wide range of science results, including a unique series of survey programs. A new large survey
programme commenced in 2015, which included for the first time, polarisation sensitive measurements using POL-2, the
polarimeter ancillary instrument. We discuss proposals and the science case for upgrading SCUBA-2 with new detector
arrays that will keep SCUBA-2 and the JCMT at the forefront of continuum submillimetre science.
As part of the JCMT Future Instrumentation Project, the EAO looks to optimize the premier niche of the facility as the
go-to telescope for fast, deep wide-field mapping of the universe at 345 GHz (850 um). The next generation heterodyne
array for JCMT will be designed to provide deep ultra-fast mapping capabilities that takes advantage of the full field-of-view
available to the telescope, and an array of 90 SIS mixers. This paper presents a preliminary design options and the
critical science drivers for the project.
SCUBA-2 has been operational on JCMT producing excellent science for almost 5 years. We describe the strategy and
methods that we have evolved to keep one of the world’s first “dry dilution refrigerators” and the other cryogenic
systems working effectively at the summit of Mauna Kea, keeping the instrument functioning at peak efficiency for
extended periods (over 12 months at a time), with minimum downtime. We discuss new plans to reduce day-to-day
operational costs and to add remote management of the gas handling systems, as we look to the future and envisage
another ten years of SCUBA-2 science.
instrument’s twin focal planes, each with over 5000 superconducting Transition Edge Sensors (TES) that work simultaneously at 450 and 850 microns are producing excellent science results and in particular a unique series of JCMT legacy surveys. In this paper we give an update on the performance of the instrument over the past 2 years of science operations and present the results of a study into the noise properties of the TES arrays. We highlight changes that have been implemented to increase the efficiency and performance of SCUBA-2 and discus the potential for future enhancements.
SCUBA-2 is a wide-field submillimeter bolometer camera operating at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The camera has twin focal planes, each with 5120 superconducting Transition Edge Sensors, which provide simultaneous images in two filter bands at 450 and 850 microns matched to the atmospheric windows. Detailed knowledge of the optical filter profiles that define these bands is important for estimating potential contamination from the prevalent CO J = 3-2 and CO 6-5 line emission, and correctly interpreting the effects of the source spectral index on photometric observations. We present measurements of the spectral response of SCUBA-2 obtained with FTS-2, the ancillary Fourier transform spectrometer instrument at the JCMT. The spectral measurements will be compared with the predicted filter profile determined from the linear combination of the individual filter profiles present in the SCUBA-2 optical train.
We present the latest commissioning results and instrument performance for the SCUBA-2 imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS-2) installed at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). This ancillary instrument provides intermediate spectral resolution (R ~10 to 5000) across both the 450 and 850 μm atmospheric transmission windows with a FOV of ~5 arcmin2. The superconducting TES sensors and SQUID readout of SCUBA-2 present unique challenges for operation of an FTS; the sensitivity requirements demand high detector linearity and stability in addition to control of systematic atmospheric and optical spillover effects. We discuss the challenges encountered during commissioning and ongoing efforts to mitigate their effects.
SCUBA-2 is the largest submillimetre wide-field bolometric camera ever built. This 43 square arc- minute field-of-view instrument operates at two wavelengths (850 and 450 microns) and has been installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. SCUBA-2 has been successfully commissioned and operational for general science since October 2011. This paper presents an overview of the on-sky performance of the instrument during and since commissioning in mid- 2011. The on-sky noise characteristics and NEPs of the 450 μm and 850 μm arrays, with average yields of approximately 3400 bolometers at each wavelength, will be shown. The observing modes of the instrument and the on-sky calibration techniques are described. The culmination of these efforts has resulted in a scientifically powerful mapping camera with sensitivities that allow a square degree of sky to be mapped to 10 mJy/beam rms at 850 μm in 2 hours and 60 mJy/beam rms at 450 μm in 5 hours in the best weather.
SCUBA-2 is a revolutionary 10,000 pixel wide-field submillimetre camera, recently commissioned and now operational
at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Twin focal planes each consist of four 32 by 40 sub-arrays of
superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers, the largest combined low temperature bolometer arrays in
operation, to provide simultaneous imaging at wavelengths of 450 and 850 microns. SCUBA-2 was designed to map
large areas of sky more than 100 times faster than the original ground breaking SCUBA instrument and has achieved this
goal. In this paper we describe the performance of the instrument and present results of characterising the eight science
grade TES bolometer arrays. We discuss the steps taken to optimise the setup of the TES arrays to maximise mapping
speed and show how critical changes to the sub-array module thermal design, the introduction of independent focal plane
and 1K temperature control and enhancements to the cryogenics have combined to significantly improve the overall
performance of the instrument.
Cryogen free or ‘dry’ dilution refrigerators that integrate a cryocooler such as a two stage pulse tube to replace the conventional liquid helium bath and 1K pot, have become a practical alternative for cooling astronomical detectors to mK temperatures and offer many advantages. SCUBA-2, the new submillimetre camera in operation at the JCMT, on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, was one of the first instruments to use such a fridge design. The dry dilution fridge for SCUBA-2 has now been in service for almost 4 years during commissioning at JCMT. In the most recent astronomical commissioning phase, the dilution fridge was in continuous operation for 10 months with no loss of base temperature or cooling power, cooling the SCUBA-2 detector arrays to below 100mK while maintaining a further 100Kg of enclosure, shields and SQUID amplifiers at 1K. In this paper we review some of the lessons from operating a dry dilution fridge at the JCMT and the necessary changes that have been incorporated. We present the performance of the fridge and discus its role in ensuring the success of SCUBA-2.
Over preceding conferences, the design and implementation of the SCUBA-2 (Sub-millimeter Common-User
Bolometric Array 2) instrument hardware has been described in detail. SCUBA-2 has been installed on the James Clerk
Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) for over two years and its hardware has been successfully commissioned. This paper
describes the culmination of this process and compares the optical/mechanical design and test expectations of the
instrument hardware against the performance achieved in the field.
Commissioning of SCUBA-2 included a program of skydips and observations of calibration sources intended to
be folded into regular observing as standard methods of source flux calibration and to monitor the atmospheric
opacity and stability. During commissioning, it was found that these methods could also be utilised to characterise
the fundamental instrument response to sky noise and astronomical signals. Novel techniques for analysing onsky
performance and atmospheric conditions are presented, along with results from the calibration observations
and skydips.
SCUBA-2 is a state of the art 10,000 pixel submillimeter camera installed and being commissioned at the James Clerk
Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) providing wide-field simultaneous imaging at wavelengths of 450 and 850 microns. At each
wavelength there are four 32 by 40 sub-arrays of superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers, each
packaged with inline SQUID multiplexed readout and amplifier. In this paper we present the results of characterising
individual 1280 bolometer science grade sub-arrays, both in a dedicated 50mk dilution refrigerator test facility and in the
instrument installed at the JCMT.
SCUBA-2 is a new wide-field submillimeter continuum instrument being commissioned on the James Clerk
Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. SCUBA-2 uses large-scale arrays of superconducting bolometers
with SQUID- (superconducting quantum interference device) based multiplexing and amplification. The sensitivity
of the devices that compose the detector arrays to magnetic fields is such that magnetic shielding, consisting
of superconducting and high-permeability materials, was fitted to the detector enclosure at 1 K to reduce the
magnetic field strength at the focal plane. This paper describes the design and construction of the cryogenic
shielding, and presents verification measurements. The shielding performance was found to meet the instrument
requirements, and compared well to the modelled results.
SCUBA-2 is a new wide-field submillimeter continuum instrument being commissioned on the James Clerk
Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. SCUBA-2 images simultaneously at 450 and 850 μm using large-scale
arrays of superconducting bolometers, with over five thousand pixels at each wavelength. The arrays are
cooled to less than 100 mK by the mixing chamber of a dilution refrigerator (DR), with a radiation shield at a
nominal temperature of 1 K cooled by the DR still. The DR is a "dry" system, using a pulse tube cooler for
precooling of the circulating helium in place of a liquid helium bath. This paper presents key performance data
for the DR.
The detector arrays for the SCUBA-2 instrument consist of TES bolometers with superconducting amplifier and
multiplexing circuits based on Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs). The SCUBA-2 TES arrays
and their multiplexed SQUID readouts need to be set-up carefully to achieve correct performance. Algorithms have been
developed and implemented based on the first available commissioning grade detector, enabling the array to be set up
and optimized automatically.
We present the results of characterization measurements on a 1280 pixel superconducting bolometer array designed for operation at wavelengths around 450 μm. The array is a prototype for the sub-arrays which will form the focal plane for the SCUBA-2 sub-mm camera, being built for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. With over 10 000 pixels in total, it will provide a huge improvement in both sensitivity and mapping speed over existing instruments. The array consists of molybdenum-copper bi-layer TES (transition edge sensor) pixels, bonded to a multiplexer. The detectors operate at a
temperature of approximately 175 mK, and require a heat sink at a temperature of approximately 60 mK. In contrast to previous TES arrays, the multiplexing elements are located beneath each pixel (an "in-focal plane" configuration). We present the results of electrical and optical measurements, and show that the optical NEP (noise equivalent power) is less than 1.4 × 10-16 W Hz-0.5 and thus within the goal of 1.5 × 10-16 W Hz-0.5.
SCUBA-2 is an innovative 10,000 pixel submillimeter camera due to be delivered to the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in late 2006. The camera is expected to revolutionize submillimeter astronomy in terms of the ability to carry out wide-field surveys to unprecedented depths addressing key questions relating to the origins of galaxies, stars and planets. This paper presents an update on the project with particular emphasis on the laboratory commissioning of the instrument. The assembly and integration will be described as well as the measured thermal performance of the instrument. A summary of the performance results will be presented from the TES bolometer arrays, which come complete with in-focal plane SQUID amplifiers and multiplexed readouts, and are cooled to 100mK by a liquid cryogen-free dilution refrigerator. Considerable emphasis has also been placed on the operating modes of the instrument and the "common-user" aspect of the user interface and data reduction pipeline. These areas will also be described in the paper.
The SCUBA-2 instrument is a new wide field submillimeter imager currently being designed for the James Clerk Maxwell telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The instrument will observe simultaneously in the 450 and 850 micron bands and has a field of view of approximately 50 square arcminutes. To meet the performance requirements the detectors require a heat sink at a temperature of 50 mK or lower, and must be surrounded by an enclosure at a temperature of 1.1 K or below.
Cooling is provided by the mixing chamber and still of a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator (DR), via thermal links of the order of a metre in length. A challenging set of requirements result from the need for a small temperature drop between the detectors and the refrigerator insert despite the large distance between them, the need to provide flexibility in the links to allow for movement during thermal contraction, and the need to allow for the detectors to be
removed from the cryostat. Further, the arrays require a mounting structure which provides rigid mechanical support from the 1-K stage yet causes a very small heat input to millikelvin stage. This paper describes the design which has been evolved to meet these difficult (and often conflicting) requirements.
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