A sub millimeter integral field spectrometer optimized for space

We propose to develop and demonstrate the first large-format mm-wave Integral Field Spectrometer (IFS). This architecture can realize 432 spatial pixels, each coupled to an R = 100 spectrometer covering an octave of bandwidth in a 150 mm diameter package. We will concentrate our initial development on the 90 and 150 GHz atmospheric windows, which are sensitive to multiple orders of carbon monoxide (CO) emission from redshifts z = 1 − 4. We will also test the scalablity of this IFS up to 600 GHz. This project will provide a laboratory demonstration of this technology in stages, starting with completing the design of the underlying technology, then fabricating a complete detector unit consisting of many spectrometers coupled to a compact horn array, and finally a 2-D array of multiple working detector units read out simultaneously. High-sensitivity mm-wave spectrometers are key to understanding the evolution of the Universe and the birth of stars and galaxies during the first billion years of its history. They will soon enable dedicated line intensity mapping (LIM) surveys, which use observations of atomic and molecular spectral lines from unresolved galaxies to map large-scale structure and star formation rate in 3 dimensions. IFS technology will enable instruments with > 1000 spectrometers that densely sample a telescope’s focal plane, producing images and taking spectra with 25 times the mapping speed of present-generation instruments, per unit focal plane area. The scientific possibilities of future satellite missions will be transformed by dramatically reducing the mass and volume of the IFS. This will enable new measurements of the yet-unexplored first billion years of our universe when structures and stars first formed, and improve the precision of cosmological constraints over those from CMB and optical galaxy surveys. The proposed lab demonstration of a dense array of sensitive, multi-pixel, on-chip spectrometer units is a key milestone toward future large-scale LIM and spectral distortion surveys from balloons and space.

The Astrophysics Research and Analysis program (APRA) supports suborbital and suborbital-class investigations, development of detectors and supporting technology, laboratory astrophysics, and limited ground based observing. Basic research proposals in these areas are solicited for investigations that are relevant to NASA's programs in astronomy and astrophysics, including the entire range of photons, gravitational waves, and particle astrophysics. The emphasis of this solicitation is on technologies and investigations that advance NASA astrophysics missions and goals.

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