TY - GEN
T1 - Application of atmospheric OH suppression technology to ground-based infrared astronomy
AU - Kuehn, Kyler
AU - Kuhlmann, Stephen
AU - Ellis, Simon
AU - Stern, Nathaniel
AU - Liu, Pufan
AU - Caldwell-Meurer, Hannah
AU - Spinka, Harold
AU - Underwood, David
AU - Kehoe, Robert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 SPIE.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - We seek to advance the capabilities of photonic technologies in support of ground-based infrared astronomy. Currently, observers in this field suffer from an irreducible background generated by emission from OH (hydroxyl) molecules in the upper atmosphere. However, if narrow-band notch filters could be incorporated into the optical path of astronomical instruments prior to any optical elements that would spectrally broaden such emission lines, then this background could be effectively suppressed with very little accompanying loss of signal from the astronomical sources of interest. Micron-scale ring resonators are one technology that provides a promising method of generating such notch filters. Building on our previous efforts in astrophotonic technology development, our current goals are 1) to optimize the design of ring resonators so that the notch filters they create provide greatest suppression at the wavelengths of the most prominent OH lines, and 2) to optimize the coupling of the resonator-equipped silicon devices with the input fibers (from the sky) and output fibers (to the spectrograph and detector) such that the throughput losses do not completely eliminate the signal-To-noise improvement gained from the OH suppression. Theoretical estimates show that suppression (by 20-40dB) of the most prominent OH lines improves the signal to noise of near-IR observations by a factor of 5 or more-this is similar in effect to turning a telescope with a 1m aperture into a telescope with a 5m aperture!
AB - We seek to advance the capabilities of photonic technologies in support of ground-based infrared astronomy. Currently, observers in this field suffer from an irreducible background generated by emission from OH (hydroxyl) molecules in the upper atmosphere. However, if narrow-band notch filters could be incorporated into the optical path of astronomical instruments prior to any optical elements that would spectrally broaden such emission lines, then this background could be effectively suppressed with very little accompanying loss of signal from the astronomical sources of interest. Micron-scale ring resonators are one technology that provides a promising method of generating such notch filters. Building on our previous efforts in astrophotonic technology development, our current goals are 1) to optimize the design of ring resonators so that the notch filters they create provide greatest suppression at the wavelengths of the most prominent OH lines, and 2) to optimize the coupling of the resonator-equipped silicon devices with the input fibers (from the sky) and output fibers (to the spectrograph and detector) such that the throughput losses do not completely eliminate the signal-To-noise improvement gained from the OH suppression. Theoretical estimates show that suppression (by 20-40dB) of the most prominent OH lines improves the signal to noise of near-IR observations by a factor of 5 or more-this is similar in effect to turning a telescope with a 1m aperture into a telescope with a 5m aperture!
KW - astronomical instrumentation
KW - infrared spectroscopy
KW - photonics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099788408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85099788408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.2561990
DO - 10.1117/12.2561990
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85099788408
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation IV
A2 - Navarro, Ramon
A2 - Geyl, Roland
PB - SPIE
T2 - Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation IV 2020
Y2 - 14 December 2020 through 22 December 2020
ER -