Preliminary design of a superconducting heterodyne array receiver for Leighton Chajnantor Telescope

Abstract

The Leighton Chajnantor Telescope (LCT) project, sponsored by Shanghai Normal University in collaboration with Caltech and the University of Concepción, is seeking to relocate the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO)[1] from Mauna Kea, Hawaii to Llano de Chajnantor Observatory on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile. The LCT will be equipped with a new 345-GHz band heterodyne array receiver of 3×3 beams and quantum-limited sensitivity. Based on superconducting Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb tunnel junction (SIS) mixers, we have developed a compact 1×3 array as one unit of the new heterodyne array receiver. Detailed design and measurement results will be presented.