The quasi-optical performance of CMB astronomical telescopes

Créidhe O'Sullivan; J. Anthony Murphy; Vladimir Yurchenko; Gary Cahill; Gareth Curran; Marcin Gradziel; John Lavelle; Fabio Noviello

doi:10.1117/12.696551

1 February 2007 The quasi-optical performance of CMB astronomical telescopes

Créidhe O'Sullivan, J. Anthony Murphy, Vladimir Yurchenko, Gary Cahill, Gareth Curran, Marcin Gradziel, John Lavelle, Fabio Noviello

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6472, Terahertz and Gigahertz Electronics and Photonics VI; 647202 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.696551
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2007, 2007, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Optical design in the terahertz (THz) waveband can be challenging, especially for high-precision applications. In this paper we summarise our experience with the quasi-optical design and subsequent performance of astronomical telescopes designed to measure the faint temperature and polarisation properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, in particular QUaD¹, the PLANCK Surveyor² and MBI³. These telescopes contain a range of quasi-optical components including corrugated feed horns, on- and off-axis conic mirrors and lenses. Knowledge of their optical performance and beam patterns is critical for understanding systematic effects in the reliable extraction of feeble polarisation signals. Although Physical Optics can be used to characterise electromagnetic systems to high accuracy, it is computationally intensive at these frequencies and often not suitable for the initial design or preliminary analysis of large multi-element optical systems. In general there is a lack of dedicated software tools for modelling the range of components and propagation conditions encountered in typical systems and we have employed a variety of commercial and in-house software packages for this task. We describe the techniques used, their predictions and the performance of the telescopes that have been measured to-date.

Citation Download Citation

Créidhe O'Sullivan, J. Anthony Murphy, Vladimir Yurchenko, Gary Cahill, Gareth Curran, Marcin Gradziel, John Lavelle, and Fabio Noviello "The quasi-optical performance of CMB astronomical telescopes", Proc. SPIE 6472, Terahertz and Gigahertz Electronics and Photonics VI, 647202 (1 February 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.696551

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