Scaling the summit of the submillimetre: instrument performance of SCUBA-2

Dan Bintley; Michael J. MacIntosh; Wayne S. Holland; Jessica T. Dempsey; Per Friberg; John T. Kuroda; Erik G. Starman; Holly S. Thomas; Craig Walther; Xiaofeng Gao; Peter A. R. Ade; Rashmi V. Sudiwala; Camelia Dunare; William Parkes; Anthony J. Walton; Kent D. Irwin; Gene C. Hilton; Michael Niemack; Mandana Amiri; Viktoria Asboth; Bryce Burger; Edward L. Chapin; Mark Halpern; Matthew Hasselfield; Adam L. Woodcraft

doi:10.1117/12.926613

24 September 2012 Scaling the summit of the submillimetre: instrument performance of SCUBA-2

Dan Bintley, Michael J. MacIntosh, Wayne S. Holland, Jessica T. Dempsey, Per Friberg, John T. Kuroda, Erik G. Starman, Holly S. Thomas, Craig Walther, Xiaofeng Gao, Peter A. R. Ade, Rashmi V. Sudiwala, Camelia Dunare, William Parkes, Anthony J. Walton, Kent D. Irwin, Gene C. Hilton, Michael Niemack, Mandana Amiri, Viktoria Asboth, Bryce Burger, Edward L. Chapin, Mark Halpern, Matthew Hasselfield, Adam L. Woodcraft

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8452, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI; 845208 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926613
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

SCUBA-2 is a revolutionary 10,000 pixel wide-field submillimetre camera, recently commissioned and now operational at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Twin focal planes each consist of four 32 by 40 sub-arrays of superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers, the largest combined low temperature bolometer arrays in operation, to provide simultaneous imaging at wavelengths of 450 and 850 microns. SCUBA-2 was designed to map large areas of sky more than 100 times faster than the original ground breaking SCUBA instrument and has achieved this goal. In this paper we describe the performance of the instrument and present results of characterising the eight science grade TES bolometer arrays. We discuss the steps taken to optimise the setup of the TES arrays to maximise mapping speed and show how critical changes to the sub-array module thermal design, the introduction of independent focal plane and 1K temperature control and enhancements to the cryogenics have combined to significantly improve the overall performance of the instrument.

Citation Download Citation

Dan Bintley, Michael J. MacIntosh, Wayne S. Holland, Jessica T. Dempsey, Per Friberg, John T. Kuroda, Erik G. Starman, Holly S. Thomas, Craig Walther, Xiaofeng Gao, Peter A. R. Ade, Rashmi V. Sudiwala, Camelia Dunare, William Parkes, Anthony J. Walton, Kent D. Irwin, Gene C. Hilton, Michael Niemack, Mandana Amiri, Viktoria Asboth, Bryce Burger, Edward L. Chapin, Mark Halpern, Matthew Hasselfield, and Adam L. Woodcraft "Scaling the summit of the submillimetre: instrument performance of SCUBA-2", Proc. SPIE 8452, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 845208 (24 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926613

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