TY - JOUR
T1 - Upgrading the field-imaging far-infrared line spectrometer for the stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy with kinetic inductance detectors
T2 - Enabling large sample (extragalactic) surveys
AU - Colditz, Sebastian
AU - Looney, Leslie W.
AU - Bigiel, Frank
AU - Fischer, Christian
AU - Fischer, Jacqueline
AU - Hailey-Dunsheath, Steven
AU - Herrera-Camus, Rodrigo
AU - Krabbe, Alfred
AU - Leduc, Henry
AU - Wong, Tony
AU - Zmuidzinas, Jonas
N1 - Funding Information:
SOFIA, the “Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy,” is a joint project of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR; German Aerospace Centre, Grant No. 50OK0901) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It is funded on behalf of DLR by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology based on legislation by the German Parliament, the state of Baden-Württemberg, and the Universität Stuttgart. Scientific operation for Germany is coordinated by the German SOFIA-Institute (DSI) of the Universität Stuttgart, in the USA by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The commissioning of FIFI-LS was supported by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of the Federal Republic of Germany) through the DLR Space Administration (Grant No. 50OK1201). Frank Bigiel would like to acknowledge the funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Grant Agreement No. 726384/Empire). This work was also published in the proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation Digital Forum 2020 as SPIE Paper No. 11453-101. We would like to thank the anonymous referees for many helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
PY - 2021/4/1
Y1 - 2021/4/1
N2 - We present the initial design, performance improvements, and science opportunities for an upgrade to the Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer (FIFI-LS). FIFI-LS efficiently measures fine structure cooling lines, delivering critical constraints of the interstellar medium and star-forming environments. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) provides the only far-infrared (FIR) observational capability in the world, making FIFI-LS a workhorse for FIR lines, combining optimal spectral resolution and a wide velocity range. Its continuous coverage of 51 to 203 μm makes FIFI-LS a versatile tool to investigate a multitude of diagnostic lines within our galaxy and in extragalactic environments. The sensitivity and field of view (FOV) of FIFI-LS are limited by its 90s-era photoconductor arrays. These limits can be overcome by upgrading the instrument using the latest developments in kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). KIDs provide sensitivity gains in excess of 1.4 and allow larger arrays, enabling an increase in pixel count by an order of magnitude. This increase allows a wider FOV and instantaneous velocity coverage. The upgrade provides gains in point source observation speed by a factor >2 and in mapping speed by a factor >3.5, enabled by the improved sensitivity and pixel count. This upgrade has been proposed to NASA in response to the 2018 SOFIA Next Generation Instrumentation call.
AB - We present the initial design, performance improvements, and science opportunities for an upgrade to the Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer (FIFI-LS). FIFI-LS efficiently measures fine structure cooling lines, delivering critical constraints of the interstellar medium and star-forming environments. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) provides the only far-infrared (FIR) observational capability in the world, making FIFI-LS a workhorse for FIR lines, combining optimal spectral resolution and a wide velocity range. Its continuous coverage of 51 to 203 μm makes FIFI-LS a versatile tool to investigate a multitude of diagnostic lines within our galaxy and in extragalactic environments. The sensitivity and field of view (FOV) of FIFI-LS are limited by its 90s-era photoconductor arrays. These limits can be overcome by upgrading the instrument using the latest developments in kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). KIDs provide sensitivity gains in excess of 1.4 and allow larger arrays, enabling an increase in pixel count by an order of magnitude. This increase allows a wider FOV and instantaneous velocity coverage. The upgrade provides gains in point source observation speed by a factor >2 and in mapping speed by a factor >3.5, enabled by the improved sensitivity and pixel count. This upgrade has been proposed to NASA in response to the 2018 SOFIA Next Generation Instrumentation call.
KW - Far-infrared
KW - Fifi-ls
KW - Integral field spectroscopy
KW - Kinetic inductance detectors
KW - Sofia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110559847&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85110559847&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/1.JATIS.7.2.025002
DO - 10.1117/1.JATIS.7.2.025002
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85110559847
VL - 7
JO - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
JF - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
SN - 2329-4124
IS - 2
M1 - 025002
ER -