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Optical design of a dual-polarization receiver for 220–280 GHz

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Abstract

A 220–280 GHz dual polarization receiver has been built for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Schottky diode mixers cooled to ∼15K by a closed-cycle refrigerator are used to give DSB noise temperatures of 300K and 420K in the two channels. The optical design is based on gaussian-beam optics, and is frequency independent; it allows the significant higher order gaussian modes to propagate unhindered, thus offering the prospect of very high aperture efficiency. The receiver includes a number of novel optical components, including a completely symmetric dual polarization Martin-Puplett interferometer, used as the L.O. injection diplexer; a dielectric waveplate used as an in-line variable polarization splitter; and a dual-polarization in-line tunable Fabry-Perot SSB filter. Measurements of the performance of the optical system are presented.

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  1. Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Rd., CB 3 0HE, Cambridge, England

    Rachael Padman

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  1. Rachael Padman
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Padman, R. Optical design of a dual-polarization receiver for 220–280 GHz. Int J Infrared Milli Waves 10, 1233–1261 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01009251

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01009251

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