Performance update of the infrared camera and spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope (IRCS)

Hiroshi Terada; Naoto Kobayashi; Alan T. Tokunaga; Tae-Soo Pyo; Ko Nedachi; Mark Weber; Robert Potter; Peter M. Onaka

doi:10.1117/12.552516

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30 September 2004 Performance update of the infrared camera and spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope (IRCS)

Hiroshi Terada, Naoto Kobayashi, Alan T. Tokunaga, Tae-Soo Pyo, Ko Nedachi, Mark Weber, Robert Potter, Peter M. Onaka

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Proceedings Volume 5492, Ground-based Instrumentation for Astronomy; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552516
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

We present the upgraded performance of the Infrared Camera and Spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope (IRCS). The IRCS has been very successfully operating on cassegrain focus of the telescope about four years after the first light in February 2000. Initially the capability of the IRCS was limited due to the quite low sensitivity of the camera side array (Q.E.~50%) and the high dark current (~0.6e^-/sec) of the spectrograph side array. To improve the performance, two major upgrades were carried out for the IRCS in these four years. The first major upgrade was the replacement of the previous engineering grade Aladdin-II array on the camera side used for imaging and grism spectroscopy into the new Aladdin-III array with significantly improved sensitivity (Q.E.~95%) in August 2001. Then, we also replaced the previous Aladdin-II array on the spectrograph side for high dispersion echelle spectroscopy into the new Aladdin-III array with good sensitivity (Q.E.~95%) and low dark current (~0.05e^-/s) in the second major upgrade in June 2003. In this report, we will show the updated characteristics for the new Aladdin-III on the spectrograph side and also summarise the total performance of the IRCS after the upgrades together with actually achieved scientific results.

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Hiroshi Terada, Naoto Kobayashi, Alan T. Tokunaga, Tae-Soo Pyo, Ko Nedachi, Mark Weber, Robert Potter, and Peter M. Onaka "Performance update of the infrared camera and spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope (IRCS)", Proc. SPIE 5492, Ground-based Instrumentation for Astronomy, (30 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552516

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