Cryogenic IR/optical/UV fast spectrophotometers for the study of time-variable astronomical sources

Aaron J. Miller; Blas Cabrera; Roger W. Romani; John M. Martinis; Sae Woo Nam; David M. Weld; Pat Castle

doi:10.1117/12.406566

16 November 2000 Cryogenic IR/optical/UV fast spectrophotometers for the study of time-variable astronomical sources

Aaron J. Miller, Blas Cabrera, Roger W. Romani, John M. Martinis, Sae Woo Nam, David M. Weld, Pat Castle

Proceedings Volume 4131, Infrared Spaceborne Remote Sensing VIII; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.406566
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Our detectors are superconducting Transition-Edge Sensors that have been designed for photon counting in the energy (wavelength) range of 0.5 eV (2.5 micrometers ) to 10 eV (124 nm). Our design consists of a 6 X 6 array of 20 micrometers by 20 micrometers pixels, of which four were operated simultaneously at count rates exceeding 30 K-counts/pixel. Each photon is time-tagged to 0.4 microsecond(s) using a GPS signal processor, and the energy is determined to approximately 0.15 eV FWHM. These results are the best achieved for an energy dispersive spectrometer in the optical range. We discuss the detector design and operation, optical coupling, and high-rate data acquisition system. In addition, we discuss the next step towards detectors with improved light collection and higher energy resolution. We also present recent results from latest application of our fast spectrophotometers to the study of highly time-variable sources using the 2.7 m telescope at the McDonald Observatory.

Citation Download Citation

Aaron J. Miller, Blas Cabrera, Roger W. Romani, John M. Martinis, Sae Woo Nam, David M. Weld, and Pat Castle "Cryogenic IR/optical/UV fast spectrophotometers for the study of time-variable astronomical sources", Proc. SPIE 4131, Infrared Spaceborne Remote Sensing VIII, (16 November 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.406566

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