Optimization of an Optical Testbed for Characterization of EXCLAIM u-Spec Integrated Spectrometers

We describe a testbed to characterize the optical response of compact superconducting on-chip spectrometers in development for the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) mission. EXCLAIM is a balloonborne far-infrared experiment to probe the CO and CII emission lines in galaxies from redshift 3.5 to the present. The spectrometer, called u-Spec, comprises a diffraction grating on a silicon chip coupled to kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) read out via a single microwave feedline. We use a prototype spectrometer for EXCLAIM to demonstrate our ability to characterize the spectrometers spectral response using a photomixer source. We utilize an on-chip reference detector to normalize relative to spectral structure from the off-chip optics and a silicon etalon to calibrate the absolute frequency

Developing a New Generation of Integrated Micro-Spec Far Infrared Spectrometers for the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM)

The current state of far-infrared astronomy drives the need to develop compact, sensitive spectrometers for future space and ground-based instruments. Here we present details of the $\rm \mu$-Spec spectrometers currently in development for the far-infrared balloon mission EXCLAIM. The spectrometers are designed to cover the $\rm 555 - 714\ \mu$m range with a resolution of $\rm R\ =\ \lambda / \Delta\lambda\ =\ 512$at the$\rm 638\ \mu$m band center. The spectrometer design incorporates a Rowland grating spectrometer implemented in a parallel plate waveguide on a low-loss single-crystal Si chip, employing Nb microstrip planar transmission lines and thin-film Al kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). The EXCLAIM$\rm \mu$-Spec design is an advancement upon a successful$\rm R = 64\ \mu$-Spec prototype, and can be considered a sub-mm superconducting photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that combines spectral dispersion and detection. The design operates in a single$M{=}2$grating order, allowing one spectrometer to cover the full EXCLAIM band without requiring a multi-order focal plane. The EXCLAIM instrument will fly six spectrometers, which are fabricated on a single 150 mm diameter Si wafer. Fabrication involves a flip-wafer-bonding process with patterning of the superconducting layers on both sides of the Si dielectric. The spectrometers are designed to operate at 100 mK, and will include 355 Al KID detectors targeting a goal of NEP${\sim}8\times10^{-19}$$\rm W/\sqrt{Hz}$. We summarize the design, fabrication, and ongoing development of these$\rm \mu$-Spec spectrometers for EXCLAIM.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation (2022

Overview and status of EXCLAIM, the experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping

The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared telescope that will survey star formation history over cosmological time scales to improve our understanding of why the star formation rate declined at redshift z < 2, despite continued clustering of dark matter. Specifically,EXCLAIM will map the emission of redshifted carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon lines in windows over a redshift range 0 < z < 3.5, following an innovative approach known as intensity mapping. Intensity mapping measures the statistics of brightness fluctuations of cumulative line emissions instead of detecting individual galaxies, thus enabling a blind, complete census of the emitting gas. To detect this emission unambiguously, EXCLAIM will cross-correlate with a spectroscopic galaxy catalog. The EXCLAIM mission uses a cryogenic design to cool the telescope optics to approximately 1.7 K. The telescope features a 90-cm primary mirror to probe spatial scales on the sky from the linear regime up to shot noise-dominated scales. The telescope optical elements couple to six {\mu}-Spec spectrometer modules, operating over a 420-540 GHz frequency band with a spectral resolution of 512 and featuring microwave kinetic inductance detectors. A Radio Frequency System-on-Chip (RFSoC) reads out the detectors in the baseline design. The cryogenic telescope and the sensitive detectors allow EXCLAIM to reach high sensitivity in spectral windows of low emission in the upper atmosphere. Here, an overview of the mission design and development status since the start of the EXCLAIM project in early 2019 is presented.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1912.0711

Experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping: instrument design

The experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne telescope designed to survey star formation in windows from the present to z  =  3.5. During this time, the rate of star formation dropped dramatically, while dark matter continued to cluster. EXCLAIM maps the redshifted emission of singly ionized carbon lines and carbon monoxide using intensity mapping, which permits a blind and complete survey of emitting gas through statistics of cumulative brightness fluctuations. EXCLAIM achieves high sensitivity using a cryogenic telescope coupled to six integrated spectrometers employing kinetic inductance detectors covering 420 to 540 GHz with spectral resolving power R  =  512 and angular resolution ≈4  arc min. The spectral resolving power and cryogenic telescope allow the survey to access dark windows in the spectrum of emission from the upper atmosphere. EXCLAIM will survey 305  deg2 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 field from a conventional balloon flight in 2023. EXCLAIM will also map several galactic fields to study carbon monoxide and neutral carbon emission as tracers of molecular gas. We summarize the design phase of the mission

CO Excitation in High-z Main-sequence Analogues: Resolved CO(4−3)/CO(3−2) Line Ratios in DYNAMO Galaxies

The spectral line energy distribution of carbon monoxide contains information about the physical conditions of the star-forming molecular hydrogen gas; however, the relation to local radiation field properties is poorly constrained. Using ∼1–2 kpc scale Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of CO(3−2) and CO(4−3), we characterize the CO(4−3)/CO(3−2) line ratios of local analogues of main-sequence galaxies at z ∼ 1–2, drawn from the DYnamics of Newly Assembled Massive Objects (DYNAMO) sample. We measure CO(4−3)/CO(3−2) across the disk of each galaxy and find a median line ratio of R _43 = 0.54 ${}_{-0.15}^{+0.16}$ for the sample. This is higher than literature estimates of local star-forming galaxies and is consistent with multiple lines of evidence that indicate DYNAMO galaxies, despite residing in the local universe, resemble main-sequence galaxies at z ∼ 1–2. Comparing with existing lower-resolution CO(1−0) observations, we find R _41 and R _31 values in the range ∼0.2–0.3 and ∼0.4–0.8, respectively. We combine our kiloparsec-scale resolved line ratio measurements with Hubble Space Telescope observations of H α to investigate the relation to the star formation rate surface density and compare this relation to expectations from models. We find increasing CO(4−3)/CO(3−2) with increasing star formation rate surface density; however, models overpredict the line ratios across the range of star formation rate surface densities we probe, in particular at the lower range. Finally, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy observations with the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus and Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer reveal low dust temperatures and no deficit of [C ii ] emission with respect to the total infrared luminosity

Overview and status of EXCLAIM, the experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping

The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared telescope that will survey galactic formation history over cosmological time scales with redshifts between 0 and 3.5. EXCLAIM will measure the statistics of brightness fluctuations of redshifted cumulative carbon monoxide and singly ionized carbon line emissions, following an intensity mapping approach. EXCLAIM will couple all-cryogenic optical elements to six μ-Spec spectrometer modules, operating at 420-540 GHz with a spectral resolution of 512 and featuring microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Here, we present an overview of the mission and its development status

EXCLAIM: the EXperiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping

The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) will constrain star formation over cosmic time by carrying out a blind and complete census of redshifted carbon monoxide (CO) and ionized carbon ([CII]) emission in cross-correlation with galaxy survey data in redshift windows from the present to z=3.5 with a fully cryogenic, balloon-borne telescope. EXCLAIM will carry out extragalactic and Galactic surveys in a conventional balloon flight planned for 2023. EXCLAIM will be the first instrument to deploy µ-Spec silicon integrated spectrometers with a spectral resolving power R=512 covering 420-540 GHz. We summarize the design, science goals, and status of EXCLAIM