Matthew Underhill

The Next Generation BLAST Experiment

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) was a suborbital experiment designed to map magnetic fields in order to study their role in star formation processes. BLASTPol made detailed polarization maps of a number of molecular clouds during its successful flights from Antarctica in 2010 and 2012. We present the next-generation BLASTPol instrument (BLAST-TNG) that will build off the success of the previous experiment and continue its role as a unique instrument and a test bed for new technologies. With a 16-fold increase in mapping speed, BLAST-TNG will make larger and deeper maps. Major improvements include a 2.5-m carbon fiber mirror that is 40% wider than the BLASTPol mirror and ~3000 polarization sensitive detectors. BLAST-TNG will observe in three bands at 250, 350, and 500 μm. The telescope will serve as a pathfinder project for microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) technology, as applied to feedhorn-coupled submillimeter detector arrays. The liquid helium cooled cryostat will have a 28-day hold time and will utilize a closed-cycle 3He refrigerator to cool the detector arrays to 270 mK. This will enable a detailed mapping of more targets with higher polarization resolution than any other submillimeter experiment to date. BLAST-TNG will also be the first balloon-borne telescope to offer shared risk observing time to the community. This paper outlines the motivation for the project and the instrumental design.

A Compact Filter-Bank Waveguide Spectrometer for Millimeter Wavelengths

In this paper, we present the design and measurements of a 90 GHz prototype of a millimeter-wave channelizing spectrometer realized in rectangular waveguide for astronomical instrumentation. The device was fabricated using conventional high-precision metal machining, and the spectrometer can be tiled into a 2D array to fill the focal plane of a telescope. Measurements of the fabricated five-channel device matched well with electromagnetic simulations using HFSS and a cascaded S-matrix approach. This motivated the design of a 54-channel R=200 spectrometer that fills the single-moded passband of rectangular waveguide in the 130-175 GHz and 190-250 GHz atmospheric windows for millimeter-wave spectroscopic mapping and multi-object spectroscopy.

Instrumental performance and results from testing of the BLAST-TNG receiver, submillimeter optics, and MKID detector arrays

Polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust grains can be used to map magnetic fields in star forming molecular clouds and the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) flew from Antarctica in 2010 and 2012 and produced degree-scale polarization maps of several nearby molecular clouds with arcminute resolution. The success of BLASTPol has motivated a next-generation instrument, BLAST-TNG, which will use more than 3000 linear polarization- sensitive microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) combined with a 2.5 m diameter carbon fiber primary mirror to make diffraction-limited observations at 250, 350, and 500 µm. With 16 times the mapping speed of BLASTPol, sub-arcminute resolution, and a longer flight time, BLAST-TNG will be able to examine nearby molecular clouds and the diffuse galactic dust polarization spectrum in unprecedented detail. The 250 μm detec- tor array has been integrated into the new cryogenic receiver, and is undergoing testing to establish the optical and polarization characteristics of the instrument. BLAST-TNG will demonstrate the effectiveness of kilo-pixel MKID arrays for applications in submillimeter astronomy. BLAST-TNG is scheduled to fly from Antarctica in December 2017 for 28 days and will be the first balloon-borne telescope to offer a quarter of the flight for “shared risk” observing by the community.

IF system design for the Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO)

We present the design, and prototype phases of the intermediate frequency (IF) system for the upcoming balloon borne observatory, Galactic/Extragalactic Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) Spectroscopic Terahertz Ob- servatory (GUSTO). GUSTO is a multi-organizational project whose goal is to address several key unanswered questions concerning all of the phases of the stellar life cycle within the Interstellar Medium (ISM). Using the NASA ULDB system for its platform, GUSTO will employ on-the-fly mapping techniques to scan a total of 124 square degrees of the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). GUSTO will survey the three brightest cooling lines in the Milky Way and the LMC. These lines are [CII], [OI], and [NII] corresponding to the three wavelengths of 158, 63, and 205 micron respectively. The completed survey will provide higher angular, and velocity resolution than that of previous surveys of [CII], [OI], and [NII]. These lines will be measured using three 8-pixel heterodyne arrays, each one dedicated to an individual cooling line, and all working together to make a 24-pixel focal plane. The GUSTO IF system is being designed to operate at low power consumption and high sensitivity all in a compact and lightweight package. The IF system will include a wideband 0.3 - 5 GHz, cryogenic, low noise amplifier (LNA), which will boost the IF output of a superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer. The LNA was designed with commercial, off the shelf SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, and surface mount passive components. The LNA design has been optimized for low power consumption, and for sensitivity. The input impedance of the LNA is matched to the output impedance of the mixer over a wide range of frequencies to reduce reflections, and standing waves. Warm IF electronics have also been designed using commercial, off the shelf, surface mount SiGe transistors in order to achieve a high, and at gain (>50dB) over the entire bandwidth. These components provide variable gain and deliver an optimum signal level to the analog to digital converter of the backend spectrometer. The warm IF components were optimized for wide bandwidth, low power consumption, as well as reliability, and fit in a compact package. Commercially fabricated custom flexible printed circuit boards are being used for multi-channel stripline-based transmission lines, instead of the traditional stainless steel cryogenic semi-rigid coaxial cables. Replacing coaxial cables with the flexible printed circuit boards allows us to transmit through up to 16 lines on a single flex circuit, without losing performance, and furthering the design goal of providing a compact/lightweight solution. Each of the components used in this IF system will undergo rigorous qualification testing, and documentation in accordance with a NASA Class-D balloon mission. We discuss the design challenges in adapting cryogenic, and warm IF electronics to operate for an ultra long duration balloon mission.

Micromachined Integrated Waveguide Transformers in THz Pickett–Potter Feedhorn Blocks

We present the design, fabrication technique, and performance of a circular-to-rectangular waveguide transformer integrated into a 1.9 THz Pickett–Potter feedhorn detector block. This design is applicable for instruments where circularly symmetric feedhorns are required to mate with rectangular waveguide-fed receiver devices that house the detector chip. The transformer was fabricated by direct metal micromachining, which offers significant advantages in reducing the complexity, timescale, and cost of manufacturing over competing techniques, such as transformer segments machined into separate blocks or machined into split-block segments. We simulate the tradeoff between the fabrication technique and the cost of rounding the edges of the rear rectangular waveguide. Simulations of the transformer circuitry using multiple electromagnetic software packages were used to finalize the dimensions of the optimized transformer. A single pixel feedhorn-transf ormer module was manufactured on a three-axis milling machine to test the feasibility of the design and manufacturing technique. We tested the performance of the integrated feedhorn-transformer modules using waveguide-fed hot electron bolometer mixers designed and fabricated at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Radiation patterns of the Pickett–Potter modules were measured using a high-power 1.9 THz multiplication chain as the source. We find good agreement between the simulated and measured beam pattern.

Results of using permanent magnets to suppress Josephson noise in the KAPPa SIS receiver

We present the results from the magnetic field generation within the Kilopixel Array Pathfinder Project (KAPPa) instrument. The KAPPa instrument is a terahertz heterodyne receiver using a Superconducting-Insulating- Superconducting (SIS) mixers. To improve performance, SIS mixers require a magnetic field to suppress Josephson noise. The KAPPa test receiver can house a tunable electromagnet used to optimize the applied magnetic field. The receiver is also capable of accommodating a permanent magnet that applies a fixed field. Our permanent magnet design uses off-the-shelf neodymium permanent magnets and then reshapes the magnetic field using machined steel concentrators. These concentrators allow the use of an unmachined permanent magnet in the back of the detector block while two small posts provide the required magnetic field across the SIS junction in the detector cavity. The KAPPa test receiver is uniquely suited to compare the permanent magnet and electromagnet receiver performance. The current work includes our design of a ‘U’ shaped permanent magnet, the testing and calibration procedure for the permanent magnet, and the overall results of the performance comparison between the electromagnet and the permanent magnet counterpart.

Diamond fly cutting of aluminum thermal infrared flat mirrors for the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) instrument

We present the fabrication and measurement of monolithic aluminum flat mirrors designed to operate in the thermal infrared for the OSIRIS-Rex Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) space instrument. The mirrors were cut using a conventional fly cutter with a large radius diamond cutting tool on a high precision Kern Evo 3-axis CNC milling machine. The mirrors were measured to have less than 150 angstroms RMS surface error.

Design and measurement of a direct-drillable smooth walled feedhorn at 1.2 THz for the next generation BLASTPol experiment

We present the design and measurement of a direct-drillable smooth walled feedhorn for the Next Generation BLASTPol balloon experiment. Custom milling cutters were obtained commercially and used to fabricate a two feedhorn structures with UG-387 flanges, each with 0.5mm section of circular waveguide, which were then mated back to back. These horns were then tested at Cardiff University using a rotation stage scanner to measure E and H plane cuts of the horn. The measurements show good agreement in both the beam FWHM and sidelobes as compared to HFSS simulations of the horn.