Cold optics of MIDI: the mid-infrared interferometric instrument for the VLTI

Jan-Willem Pel; Annelie W. Glazenborg-Kluttig; Johannes C.M. de Haas; Hiddo Hanenburg; Rainer Lenzen

doi:10.1117/12.390204

5 July 2000 Cold optics of MIDI: the mid-infrared interferometric instrument for the VLTI

Jan-Willem Pel, Annelie W. Glazenborg-Kluttig, Johannes C.M. de Haas, Hiddo Hanenburg, Rainer Lenzen

Proceedings Volume 4006, Interferometry in Optical Astronomy; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.390204
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2000, Munich, Germany

Abstract

ESO's new Very Large Telescope will consist of four 8.2 m telescopes and three moveable 1.8 m telescopes. Light from these can be combined in the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) providing milli-arcsecond resolution with high sensitivity. The VLTI will first operate in the infrared and will produce first fringes in 2001. MIDI is the VLTI instrument for interferometry in the mid-infrared (10 - 20 microns) and is under development by a German-Dutch- French consortium. The initial aim of MIDI is to combine the beams of two telescopes in the 10 micron `N-band' and to achieve spatial resolutions of 20 milli-arcseconds at a spectral resolution of 200 - 300. Modulation of the optical path difference can be done using piezo-driven mirrors at room temperature, but beam combination and detection of the interferometric signal has to be done at cryogenic temperatures due to the `thermal' wavelength domain. The MIDI cold bench is therefore mounted inside a cryostat, cooled by means of a closed cycle cooler to about 40 K for the cold optics and 8 K for the detector. This poster describes the design and implementation of the MIDI cold bench.

Citation Download Citation

Jan-Willem Pel, Annelie W. Glazenborg-Kluttig, Johannes C.M. de Haas, Hiddo Hanenburg, and Rainer Lenzen "Cold optics of MIDI: the mid-infrared interferometric instrument for the VLTI", Proc. SPIE 4006, Interferometry in Optical Astronomy, (5 July 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.390204

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