Paper 13102-65
Paper 13102-65
CCAT: a status update on the EoR-Spec instrument module for Prime-Cam
On demand | Presented live 21 June 2024 
Abstract
The Epoch of Reionization Spectrometer (EoR-Spec) is an upcoming Line Intensity Mapping (LIM) instrument designed to study the evolution of the early universe (z = 3.5 to 8) by probing the redshifted [CII] 158 μm fine-structure line from aggregates of galaxies. The [CII] emission is an excellent tracer of star formation since it is the dominant cooling line from neutral gas heated by OB star light and thus can be used to probe the reionization of the early Universe due to star formation. EoR-Spec will be deployed on Prime-Cam, a modular direct-detection receiver for the 6-meter Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), currently under construction by CPI Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH and to be installed near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert. This instrument features an image plane populated with more than 6500 Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) that are illuminated by a 4-lens optical design with a cryogenic, scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) at the pupil of the optical system. The FPI is designed to provide a spectral resolving power of R ∼ 100 over the full spectral range of 210–420 GHz. EoR-Spec will tomographically survey the E-COSMOS and E-CDFS fields with a depth of about 4000 hours over a 5 year period. Here we give an update on EoR-Spec’s final mechanical/optical design and the current status of fabrication, characterization and testing towards first light in 2026.
Presenter
Cornell Univ. (United States)
Rodrigo Freundt designs and builds state-of-the-art submillimeter instruments to study the early universe and its evolution. Rodrigo is currently a PhD candidate in the astronomy department at Cornell University working with Prof. Gordon Stacey and Prof. Michael Niemack on multiple aspects of Prime-cam, the modular direct-detection receiver for the CCAT’s FYST telescope. Rodrigo earned his undergraduate degree in Electronics Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where his research work focused on radio astronomy instrumentation. Before joining Cornell, he served for two years as site engineer at the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT).