Lens Absorber Coupled MKIDs for Far Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy

Future generation of astronomical imaging spectrometers are targeting the far infrared wavelengths to close the THz astronomy gap. Similar to lens antenna coupled Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs), lens absorber coupled MKIDs are a candidate for highly sensitive large format detector arrays. However, the latter is more robust to misalignment and assembly issues at THz frequencies due to its incoherent detection mechanism while requiring a less complex fabrication process. In this work, the performance of such detectors is investigated. The fabrication and sensitivity measurement of several lens absorber coupled MKID array prototypes operating at 6.98 and 12 THz central frequencies is on-going.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, IRMMW-THz conference pape

An Ultra-Wideband Leaky Lens Antenna for Broadband Spectroscopic Imaging Applications

We present the design, fabrication and characterisation of a broadband leaky lens antenna for broadband, spectroscopic imaging applications. The antenna is designed for operation in the 300-900 GHz band. We integrate the antenna directly into an Al-NbTiN hybrid MKID to measure the beam pattern and absolute coupling efficiency at three frequency bands centred around 350, 650 and 850 GHz, covering the full antenna band. We find an aperture efficiency $\eta_{ap} \approx 0.4$ over the whole frequency band, limited by lens reflections. We find a good match with simulations for both the patterns and efficiency, demonstrating a 1:3 bandwidth in the sub-mm wavelength range for future on-chip spectrometers.Comment: Accepted for Publication at IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagatio

A History of Universalism: Conceptions of the Internationality of Science from the Enlightenment to the Cold War

That science is fundamentally universal has been proclaimed innumerable times. But the precise geographical meaning of this universality has changed historically. This article examines conceptions of scientific internationalism from the Enlightenment to the Cold War, and their varying relations to cosmopolitanism, nationalism, socialism, and 'the West'. These views are confronted with recent tendencies to cast science as a uniquely European product

SIMD memory circuit and methodology to support upsampling, downsampling and transposition

An apparatus and method for creation of reordered vectors from sequential input data for block based decimation, filtering, interpolation and matrix transposition using a memory circuit for a Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) Digital Signal Processor (DSP). This memory circuit includes a two-dimensional storage array, a rotate-and-distribute unit, a read-controller and a write to controller, to map input vectors containing sequential data elements in columns of the two-dimensional array and extract reordered target vectors from this array. The data elements and memory configuration are received from the SIMD DSP

Efficient Waveguide Feeds for Low-Profile Submm-wave Lens Antennas

A small volume and low-mass THz spectroscopy instrument, integrated in a CubeSat platform, enables an accessible and low-cost pathway to earth science. Low-profile lens antennas emerge as a suitable candidate to realize a high gain, 50 dB, over a wide bandwidth, from 450 GHz to 550 GHz. To achieve a high aperture efficiency with a large numerical aperture lens, an advanced waveguide feed is required. In this work a concentric corrugated waveguide feed and multi-layer leaky-wave feed are presented and benchmarked against an open-ended circular waveguide feed. All three feeds are fabricated and will be evaluated in combination with a 7.4 cm diameter silicon lens. It is shown that the two feeds result in a 65% aperture efficiency, i.e. a 13% improvement with respect to the open-ended waveguide.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Tera-Hertz Sensin

Lens Absorber Coupled MKIDs for Far Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy

Future generation of astronomical imaging spectrometers are targeting the far infrared wavelengths to close the THz astronomy gap. Similar to lens antenna coupled Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs), lens absorber coupled MKIDs are a candidate for highly sensitive large format detector arrays. However, the latter is more robust to misalignment and assembly issues at THz frequencies due to its incoherent detection mechanism while requiring a less complex fabrication process. In this work, the performance of such detectors is investigated. The fabrication and sensitivity measurement of several lens absorber coupled MKID array prototypes operating at 7.8 and 12 THz central frequencies is ongoing.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Tera-Hertz Sensin