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Update on the SCUBA-2 project.

Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

SCUBA-2, which replaces SCUBA (the Submillimeter Common User BolometerArray) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in 2006, is a large-format bolometer array for submillimeter astronomy. Unlike previous detectors which have used discrete bolometers, SCUBA-2 has two dc-coupled, monolithic, filled arrays with a total of ~10,000 bolometers. It will offer simultaneous imaging of a 50 sq-arcmin field of view at wavelengths of 850 and 450 microns. SCUBA-2 is expected to have a huge impact on the study of galaxy formation and evolution in the early Universe as well as star and planet formation in our own Galaxy. Mapping the sky to the same S/N up to 1000 times faster than SCUBA, it will also act as a pathfinder for the new submillimeter interferometers such as ALMA. SCUBA-2's absorber-coupled pixels use superconducting transition edge sensors operating at 120 mK for performance limited by the sky background photon noise. The monolithic silicon detector arrays are deep-etched by the Bosch process to isolate the pixels on silicon nitride membranes. Electricalconnections are made through indium bump bonds to a SQUID time-domain multiplexer (MUX). We give an overview of the SCUBA-2 system and an update on its status, and describe some of the technological innovations that make this unique instrument possible. Copyright 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.

Text

2011-09-14

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37309

Audley, Michael D.; Holland, Wayne S.; Hodson, Trevor; MacIntosh, Michael; Robson, Ian; Irwin, Kent D.; Hilton, Gene C.; Duncan, William D.; Reintsema, Carl D.; Walton, Anthony J.; Parkes, William; Ade, Peter A. R.; Walker, Ian; Fich, Michel; Kycia, Jan B.; Halpern, Mark; Naylor, David A.; Mitchell, George; Bastien, Pierre. Update on the SCUBA-2 project. Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy II, edited by Jonas Zmuidzinas, Wayne S. Holland, Stafford Withington, Proceedings of SPIE Volume 5498, 63, 2004.

Reviewed

Halpern, Mark

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