Development of Coherent Detector Technologies for Sub-Millimetre Wave Astronomy Observations

by Boon-Kok Tan (Author)
Nominated as an outstanding Ph.D. thesis by the European Astronomical Society
Winner of the 2014 MERAC prize awarded by the European Astronomical Society
Describes technology that will make a major contribution to the future extension of the operation of major telescopes, such as ALMA, APEX and the GLT, from single pixel to large format arrays

From the Back Cover
The thesis describes the development of receiver technologies for sub-millimetre astronomy instruments, focusing on high performance coherent cryogenic detectors operating close to the superconductor gap frequency. The mixer chip which comprises the SIS devices, fed by a unilateral finline and matching planar circuits was fabricated on 15 micron silicon substrate using the recently developed Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology. This offered broadband IF and RF performance, with fully integrated on-chip planar circuits resulting in an easily reproducible mixer chip and a simple mixer block. An important consequence of this design is that it can be extended to the supra-THz region and making the fabrication of multi-pixel heterodyne arrays feasible. The extension of the operation of major telescopes such as ALMA, APEX and the GLT from single pixel to large format arrays is the subject of extensive research at present time since it will allow fast mapping combined with high resolution of the submillimetre sky. The technology described in this thesis makes a major contribution to this effort.

About the Author
After completing the Bachelor degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2001, Boon Kok Tan was offered a postgraduate position in Solar Engineering, and was awarded the Master degree in 2002. Following a lecturing career at Tunku Abdul Rahman University in Kuala Lumpur, he was offered a D. Phil position – funded by the prestigious King of Malaysia awards – at Oxford Astrophysics to work on the development of quantum limited coherent detectors for submillimetre astronomy. B. K. Tan obtained the D. Phil degree at Oxford in 2012. He is currently a member the Millimetre Detectors group of Oxford Astrophysics, leading the development of coherent THz detectors for the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) and collaborates also with the Wawasan Open University, Malaysia.
Dr. Tan was awarded the 2014 MERAC Prize by the European Astronomical Society for the Best Doctoral Thesis in the category "Technologies".

Number of Illustrations and Tables
36 illus., 93 in colour

Topics
Astronomy, Observations and Techniques
Applied Optics, Optoelectronics, Optical Devices