No Arabic abstract
We developed a waveguide-type dual-polarization sideband-separating SIS receiver system of the 100-GHz band for the 45-m radio telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, Japan. This receiver is composed of an ortho-mode transducer and two sideband-separating SIS mixers, which are both based on the waveguide technique. The receiver has four intermediate frequency bands of 4.0--8.0 GHz. Over the radio frequency range of 80--120 GHz, the single-sideband receiver noise temperatures are 50--100 K and the image rejection ratios are greater than 10 dB. We developed new matching optics for the telescope beam as well as new IF chains for the four IF signals. The new receiver system was installed in the telescope, and we successfully observed the 12CO, 13CO and C18O emission lines simultaneously toward the Sagittarius B2 region to confirm the performance of the receiver system. The SSB noise temperature of the system, including the atmosphere, became approximately half of that of the previous receiver system. The Image Rejection Ratios (IRRs) of the two 2SB mixers were calculated from the 12CO and HCO+ spectra from the W51 giant molecular cloud, resulting in > 20 dB for one polarization and > 12 dB for the other polarization.
We have developed a two-beam waveguide-type dual-polarization sideband-separating SIS receiver system in the 100-GHz band for {it z}-machine on the 45-m radio telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory. The receiver is intended for astronomical use in searching for highly redshifted spectral lines from galaxies of unknown redshift. This receiver has two beams, which have 45$^{primeprime}$ of beam separation and allow for observation with the switch in the on-on position. The receiver of each beam is composed of an ortho-mode transducer and two sideband-separating SIS mixers, which are both based on a waveguide technique, and the receiver has four intermediate frequency bands of 4.0--8.0 GHz. Over the radio frequency range of 80--116 GHz, the single-sideband receiver noise temperature is lower than about 50 K, and the image rejection ratios are greater than 10 dB in most of the same frequency range. The new receiver system has been installed in the telescope, and we successfully observed a $^{12}$CO ({it J}=3--2) emission line toward a cloverleaf quasar at {it z} = 2.56, which validates the performance of the receiver system. The SSB noise temperature of the system, including the atmosphere, is typically 150--300 K at a radio frequency of 97 GHz. We have begun blind search of high-{it J} CO toward high-{it z} submillimeter galaxies.
We have upgraded the 60-cm radio survey telescope located in Nobeyama, Japan. We developed a new waveguide-type sideband-separating SIS mixer for the telescope, which enables the simultaneous detection of distinct molecular emission lines both in the upper and lower sidebands. Over the RF frequency range of 205-240 GHz, the single-sideband receiver noise temperatures of the new mixer are 40-100 K for the 4.0-8.0 GHz IF frequency band. The image rejection ratios are greater than 10 dB over the same range. For the dual IF signals obtained by the receiver, we have developed two sets of acousto-optical spectrometers and a telescope control system. Using the new telescope system, we successfully detected the 12CO (J=2-1) and 13CO (J=2-1) emission lines simultaneously toward Orion KL in 2005 March. Using the waveguide-type sideband-separating SIS mixer for the 200 GHz band, we have initiated the first simultaneous 12CO (J=2-1) and 13CO (J=2-1) survey of the galactic plane as well as large-scale mapping observations of nearby molecular clouds.
The corrugated horn is a high performance feed often used in radio telescopes. There has been a growing demand for wideband optics and corrugated horns in millimeter and submillimeter-wave receivers. It improves the observation efficiency and allows us to observe important emission lines such as CO in multiple excited states simultaneously. However, in the millimeter/submillimeter band, it has been challenging to create a conical corrugated horn with a fractional bandwidth of ~60% because the wavelength is very short, making it difficult to make narrow corrugations. In this study, we designed a conical corrugated horn with good return loss, low cross-polarization, and symmetric beam pattern in the 210-375GHz band (56% fractional bandwidth) by optimizing the dimensions of the corrugations. The corrugated horn was installed on the Osaka 1.85-m mm-submm telescope with the matched frequency-independent optics, and simultaneous observations of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O (J = 2-1, 3-2) were successfully made. In this paper, we describe the new design of the corrugated horn and report the performance evaluation results including the optics.
In this study, we designed and experimentally evaluated a series-connected array of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junctions in the 100-GHz band mixer for the multi-beam receiver FOREST on the Nobeyama 45-m millimeter-wave telescope. The construction of the junction chip comprised a waveguide probe antenna, impedance matching circuit, SIS array junction, and choke filter, which were made from a superconducting niobium planar circuit on a quartz substrate. The multi-stage impedance matching circuit between the feed point and the SIS junction was designed as a capacitively loaded transmission line, and it comprised two sections with high (~90 Ohm) and low (~10 Ohm) characteristic impedance transmission lines. The structure of this tuning line was simple and easy to fabricate, and the feed impedance matched with the SIS junction in a wide frequency range. The signal coupling efficiency was more than 92% and the expected receiver noise temperature was approximately two times the quantum limit for 75-125 GHz based on quantum theory. The array junction devices with 3-6 connected junctions were fabricated and we measured their performance in terms of the receiver noise temperature and gain compression in the laboratory. We successfully developed an array junction device with a receiver noise temperature of ~15-30 K and confirmed that the improvement in the saturation power corresponded to the number of junctions. The newly developed array junction mixer was installed in the FOREST receiver and it successfully detected the 12CO (J = 1-0) molecular line toward IRC+10216 with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope.
Dual sideband (2SB) receivers are well suited for the spectral observation of complex astronomical signals over a wide frequency range. They are extensively used in radio astronomy, their main advantages being to avoid spectral confusion and to diminish effective system temperature by a factor two with respect to double sideband (DSB) receivers. Using available millimeter-wave analog technology, wideband 2SB receivers generally obtain sideband rejections ratios (SRR) of 10-15dB, insufficient for a number of astronomical applications. We report here the design and implementation of an FPGA-based sideband separating FFT spectrometer. A 4GHz analog front end was built to test the design and measure sideband rejection. The setup uses a 2SB front end architecture, except that the mixer outputs are directly digitized before the IF hybrid, using two 8bits ADCs sampling at 1GSPS. The IF hybrid is implemented on the FPGA together with a set of calibration vectors that, properly chosen, compensate for the analog front end amplitude and phase imbalances. The calibrated receiver exhibits a sideband rejection ratio in excess of 40dB for the entire 2GHz RF bandwidth.