Modelling the application of integrated photonic spectrographs to astronomy

R. J. Harris; J. R. Allington-Smith

doi:10.1117/12.926205

24 September 2012 Modelling the application of integrated photonic spectrographs to astronomy

R. J. Harris, J. R. Allington-Smith

Proceedings Volume 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV; 84467J (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926205
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

One of the well-known problems of producing instruments for Extremely Large Telescopes is that their size (and hence cost) scales rapidly with telescope aperture. To try to break this relation alternative new technologies have been proposed, such as the use of the Integrated Photonic Spectrograph (IPS). Due to their diraction limited nature the IPS is claimed to defeat the harsh scaling law applying to conventional instruments. The problem with astronomical applications is that unlike conventional photonics, they are not usually fed by diraction limited sources. This means in order to retain throughput and spatial information the IPS will require multiple Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWGs) and a photonic lantern. We investigate the implications of these extra components on the size of the instrument. We also investigate the potential size advantage of using an IPS as opposed to conventional monolithic optics. To do this, we have constructed toy models of IPS and conventional image sliced spectrographs to calculate the relative instrument sizes and their requirements in terms of numbers of detector pixels. Using these models we can quantify the relative size/cost advantage for dierent types of instrument, by varying dierent parameters e.g. multiplex gain and spectral resolution. This is accompanied by an assessment of the uncertainties in these predictions, which may prove crucial for the planning of future instrumentation for highly-multiplexed spectroscopy.

Citation Download Citation

R. J. Harris and J. R. Allington-Smith "Modelling the application of integrated photonic spectrographs to astronomy", Proc. SPIE 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, 84467J (24 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926205

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available