431 research outputs found
MKID Exoplanet Camera for Subaru SCExAO
We present the MKID Exoplanet Camera (MEC), a z through J band (800–1400 nm) integral field spectrograph located behind The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) at the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea that utilizes Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) as the enabling technology for high contrast imaging. MEC is the first permanently deployed near-infrared MKID instrument and is designed to operate both as an IFU, and as a focal plane wavefront sensor in a multi-kHz feedback loop with SCExAO. The read noise free, fast time domain information attainable by MKIDs allows for the direct probing of fast speckle fluctuations that currently limit the performance of most high contrast imaging systems on the ground and will help MEC achieve its ultimate goal of reaching contrasts of 10⁻⁷ at 2 λ/D. Here we outline the instrument details of MEC including the hardware, firmware, and data reduction and analysis pipeline. We then discuss MEC's current on-sky performance and end with future upgrades and plans
DARKNESS: A Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector Integral Field Spectrograph for High-Contrast Astronomy
We present DARKNESS (the DARK-speckle Near-infrared Energy-resolving
Superconducting Spectrophotometer), the first of several planned integral field
spectrographs to use optical/near-infrared Microwave Kinetic Inductance
Detectors (MKIDs) for high-contrast imaging. The photon counting and
simultaneous low-resolution spectroscopy provided by MKIDs will enable
real-time speckle control techniques and post-processing speckle suppression at
framerates capable of resolving the atmospheric speckles that currently limit
high-contrast imaging from the ground. DARKNESS is now operational behind the
PALM-3000 extreme adaptive optics system and the Stellar Double Coronagraph at
Palomar Observatory. Here we describe the motivation, design, and
characterization of the instrument, early on-sky results, and future prospects.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures. PASP Publishe
The MKID Exoplanet Camera for Subaru SCExAO
We present the MKID Exoplanet Camera (MEC), a z through J band (800 - 1400
nm) integral field spectrograph located behind The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme
Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) at the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea that utilizes
Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) as the enabling technology for
high contrast imaging. MEC is the first permanently deployed near-infrared MKID
instrument and is designed to operate both as an IFU, and as a focal plane
wavefront sensor in a multi-kHz feedback loop with SCExAO. The read noise free,
fast time domain information attainable by MKIDs allows for the direct probing
of fast speckle fluctuations that currently limit the performance of most high
contrast imaging systems on the ground and will help MEC achieve its ultimate
goal of reaching contrasts of at 2. Here we outline the
instrument details of MEC including the hardware, firmware, and data reduction
and analysis pipeline. We then discuss MEC's current on-sky performance and end
with future upgrades and plans.Comment: To be published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the
Pacifi
A high efficiency photon veto for the Light Dark Matter eXperiment
Fixed-target experiments using primary electron beams can be powerful discovery tools for light dark matter in the sub-GeV mass range. The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) is designed to measure missing momentum in high-rate electron fixed-target reactions with beam energies of 4 GeV to 16 GeV. A prerequisite for achieving several important sensitivity milestones is the capability to efficiently reject backgrounds associated with few-GeV bremsstrahlung, by twelve orders of magnitude, while maintaining high efficiency for signal. The primary challenge arises from events with photo-nuclear reactions faking the missing-momentum property of a dark matter signal. We present a methodology developed for the LDMX detector concept that is capable of the required rejection. By employing a detailed Geant4-based model of the detector response, we demonstrate that the sampling calorimetry proposed for LDMX can achieve better than 10⁻¹³ rejection of few-GeV photons. This suggests that the luminosity-limited sensitivity of LDMX can be realized at 4 GeV and higher beam energies
A high efficiency photon veto for the Light Dark Matter eXperiment
Fixed-target experiments using primary electron beams can be powerful discovery tools for light dark matter in the sub-GeV mass range. The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) is designed to measure missing momentum in high-rate electron fixed-target reactions with beam energies of 4 GeV to 16 GeV. A prerequisite for achieving several important sensitivity milestones is the capability to efficiently reject backgrounds associated with few-GeV bremsstrahlung, by twelve orders of magnitude, while maintaining high efficiency for signal. The primary challenge arises from events with photo-nuclear reactions faking the missing-momentum property of a dark matter signal. We present a methodology developed for the LDMX detector concept that is capable of the required rejection. By employing a detailed Geant4-based model of the detector response, we demonstrate that the sampling calorimetry proposed for LDMX can achieve better than 10⁻¹³ rejection of few-GeV photons. This suggests that the luminosity-limited sensitivity of LDMX can be realized at 4 GeV and higher beam energies
DARKNESS: A Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector Integral Field Spectrograph for High-contrast Astronomy
We present DARKNESS (the DARK-speckle Near-infrared Energy-resolving Superconducting Spectrophotometer), the first of several planned integral field spectrographs to use optical/near-infrared Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) for high-contrast imaging. The photon counting and simultaneous low-resolution spectroscopy provided by MKIDs will enable real-time speckle control techniques and post-processing speckle suppression at frame rates capable of resolving the atmospheric speckles that currently limit high-contrast imaging from the ground. DARKNESS is now operational behind the PALM-3000 extreme adaptive optics system and the Stellar Double Coronagraph at Palomar Observatory. Here, we describe the motivation, design, and characterization of the instrument, early on-sky results, and future prospects
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