SuperSpec: design concept and circuit simulations

Abstract

SuperSpec is a pathfinder for future lithographic spectrometer cameras, which promise to energize extra-galactic astrophysics at (sub)millimeter wavelengths: delivering 200--500 km/s spectral velocity resolution over an octave bandwidth for every pixel in a telescope's field of view. We present circuit simulations that prove the concept, which enables complete millimeter-band spectrometer devices in just a few square-millimeter footprint. We evaluate both single-stage and two-stage channelizing filter designs, which separate channels into an array of broad-band detectors, such as bolometers or kinetic inductance detector (KID) devices. We discuss to what degree losses (by radiation or by absorption in the dielectric) and fabrication tolerances affect the resolution or performance of such devices, and what steps we can take to mitigate the degradation. Such design studies help us formulate critical requirements on the materials and fabrication process, and help understand what practical limits currently exist to the capabilities these devices can deliver today or over the next few years.

10 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Decoherence in Josephson Qubits from Dielectric Loss
• The LABOCA Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South
• The Hubble Deep Field North SCUBA Super-map IV - Characterizing submillimetre galaxies using deep Spitzer imaging
• Gas and dust in a submillimeter galaxy at z = 4.24 from the Herschel ATLAS
• The AzTEC/SMA Interferometric Imaging Survey of Submillimeter-Selected High-Redshift Galaxies
• MKID development for SuperSpec: an on-chip, mm-wave, filter-bank spectrometer
• Integrated Filterbank for DESHIMA: A Submillimeter Imaging Spectrograph Based on Superconducting Resonators

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Review: Far-Infrared Instrumentation and Technology Development for the Next Decade
• MKID development for SuperSpec: an on-chip, mm-wave, filter-bank spectrometer
• Horn-Coupled, Commercially-Fabricated Aluminum Lumped-Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors for Millimeter Wavelengths
• Thermal Kinetic Inductance Detectors for millimeter-wave detection
• Status of SuperSpec: A Broadband, On-Chip Millimeter-Wave Spectrometer
• The CAMbridge Emission Line Surveyor (CAMELS)
• Polarization Sensitive Multi-Chroic MKIDs
• A four-pole power-combiner design for far-infrared and submillimeter spectroscopy
• Directional Filter Design and Simulation for Superconducting On-chip Filter-banks
• The Simulation and Design of an On-Chip Superconducting Millimetre Filter-Bank Spectrometer
• WSPEC: A Waveguide Filter Bank Spectrometer