Development of cryogenic components based on COTS parts for the HARMONI instrument

Abstract

HARMONI is an integral field spectrograph working at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The instrument will be part of the first-light complement at the E-ELT. The IAC is in charge of several work packages and the design of two important components is ongoing: A 'Cryogenic Pupil Mask Rotator' based on a direct drive brushless motor, and a 'Cryogenic Fast Shutter' based on voice coil. One of the main goals of these developments is the use of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) parts since their use will reduce costs and short the schedule. Nevertheless, the application of COTS parts in cryo-vacuum is often very difficult and represents a technological challenge.