MUSCAT: The Mexico-UK Sub-Millimetre Camera for AsTronomy

Brien, Thomas, Ade, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5127-0401, Barry, Peter, Castillo, Edgar, Ferrusca, Daniel, Gascard, Thomas, Gomez, Victor, Hargrave, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3109-6629, Hornsby, Amber ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9998-1720, Hughes, David, Pascale, Enzo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3242-8154, Parrianen, Josie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4205-9428, Perez, Abel, Rowe, Samuel, Tucker, Carole ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1851-3918, Ventura González, Salvador and Doyle, Simon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9054-986X 2018. MUSCAT: The Mexico-UK Sub-Millimetre Camera for AsTronomy. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, TX, USA, 10-15 June 2018. Published in: Zmuidzinas, Jonas and Gao, Jian_Rong eds. Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IX. , vol.10708 SPIE, 10.1117/12.2313697

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Abstract

The Mexico-UK Sub-millimetre Camera for AsTronomy (MUSCAT) is a large-format, millimetre-wave camera consisting of 1,500 background-limited lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) scheduled for deployment on the Large Millimeter Telescope (Volcán Sierra Negra, Mexico) in 2018. MUSCAT is designed for observing at 1.1 mm and will utilise the full 40 field of view of the LMTs upgraded 50-m primary mirror. In its primary role, MUSCAT is designed for high-resolution follow-up surveys of both galactic and extra-galactic sub-mm sources identified by Herschel. MUSCAT is also designed to be a technology demonstrator will provide the first on-sky demonstrations of novel design concepts such as horn-coupled LEKID arrays and closed continuous cycle miniature dilution refrigeration. Here we describe some of the key design elements of the MUSCAT instrument such as the novel use of continuous sorption refrigerators and a miniature dilutor for continuous 100-mK cooling of the focal plane, broadband optical coupling to Aluminium LEKID arrays using waveguide chokes and anti-reflection coating materials as well as with the general mechanical and optical design of MUSCAT. We will explain how MUSCAT is designed to be simple to upgrade and the possibilities for changing the focal plane unit that allows MUSCAT to act as a demonstrator for other novel technologies such as multi-chroic polarisation sensitive pixels and on-chip spectrometry in the future. Finally, we will report on the current status of MUSCAT's commissioning.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Publisher:	SPIE
Funders:	Research Councils UK, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog??a (CONACYT)
Date of Acceptance:	9 July 2018
Last Modified:	09 Nov 2023 02:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/113367

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