Silicon Micromachined Heterodyne Array Receiver at 1.9 THz Project

"We are proposing a new concept of integrated component development technology at submillimeter wavelengths that will dramatically simplify the fabrication, assembly, and integration of large focal plane arrays and imagers. This technology has the potential to significantly increase the pixel count of detector arrays and reduce the mass, volume, and complexity of array receivers for a broad range of applications in astrophysics and earth sciences. We will develop and demonstrate a highly integrated silicon-micromachined array receiver at 1.9 THz based on advanced dual-polarized, sideband-separating, balanced heterodyne mixers. The receiver front-end will be integrated with a novel micro-lens antenna array. We will design full-waveguide-band 90-degree quadrature hybrids, orthomode transducers (OMT), polarization twists, in-phase power splitters, and directional couplers at 1.9 THz; fabricate them using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) based silicon micromachining, integrate them with existing HEB mixers at 1.9 THz; and test and fully characterize them in our laboratory. The scientific importance of high-resolution spectroscopic observations at submillimeter wavelengths is underscored by the key role of heterodyne spectrometers in the ESA cornerstone Herschel Space Observatory as well as the ground-based ALMA and airborne SOFIA. Star formation and key phases of galaxy evolution occur in region enshrouded by dust that obscures them at infrared and optical wavelengths, while the temperature range of the interstellar medium of ten to a few thousand Kelvin in these regions excites a wealth of submillimeter-wave spectral lines. With high-resolution spectroscopy, resolved line profiles reveal the dynamics of star formation, directly revealing details of turbulence, outflows, and core collapse. Observations of emission from ionized species such as C+ at 1900.53690 GHz (158 um), allow one to directly measure the cooling of the diffuse component of the interstellar m

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