Valeria Tapia Ingeniera Electrica - DIE - DAS

The research consisted of the design, implementation, and characterization of Band 1 optics for the ALMA radio telescope.

A unique optical system in the world with the highest sensitivity and resolution ever achieved for this frequency band was developed by the Millimeter Wave Laboratory of the Department of Astronomy FCFM of the Universidad de Chile.

The research presented by Valeria Tapia, engineering of the Millimetric Wave Laboratory of the Department of Astronomy FCFM of the University of Chile, consisted of the design, implementation, and characterization of the Band 1 ALMA optics, the lowest frequency in the radio telescope. “In the ALMA antennas, the devices that detect the millimeter and submillimeter waves from the space are the receivers; each of the 66 antennas has 10 receivers capturing a different portion of the waves that ALMA can see.

Band 1 corresponds to the lowest frequencies that ALMA can detect, therefore they are the further away waves that our eyes can see", explains.

For this purpose, the laboratory developed and characterized the optical components for the Band 1 receiver complying all the stringent system specifications. "Optics is the first system in the receiver's path being fundamental to achieve the sensitivity required for the astronomical studies of the colder and distant universe. There is no other instrument that achieves the same sensitivity and resolution for the same frequency band. The optics presented includes innovative solutions with excellent performance. It was designed for mass production, allowing the construction and characterization of these optical devices not only in Chile, but in our laboratory", says Tapia.

The study will be published in the prestigious Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves during the first half of 2017. A digital version can be revised on http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10762-016-0331-4.