1. Design and implementation of optics for the experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping (EXCLAIM).
- Author
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Essinger-Hileman T, Chmaytelli D, Oxholm T, Parekh T, Siebert G, Switzer ER, Watson J, Barlis A, Barrentine EM, Beeman J, Chung C, Cursey P, Dahal S, Datta R, Ehsan N, Glenn J, Golec J, Lennon A, Lowe LN, McMahon J, Rahmani M, Timbie P, Tretheway B, Tucker C, Volpert C, and Wollack EJ
- Abstract
This work describes the design and implementation of optics for EXCLAIM, the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping. EXCLAIM is a balloon-borne telescope that will measure integrated line emission from carbon monoxide at redshifts z < 1 and ionized carbon ([CII]) at redshifts z = 2.5 - 3.5 to probe star formation over cosmic time in cross-correlation with galaxy redshift surveys. The EXCLAIM instrument is designed to observe at frequencies of 420-540 GHz using six microfabricated silicon integrated spectrometers with spectral resolving power R = 512 coupled to kinetic inductance detectors. A completely cryogenic telescope cooled to a temperature below 5 K provides low-background observations between narrow atmospheric lines in the stratosphere. Off-axis reflective optics use a 90-cm primary mirror to provide 4.2' full-width at half-maximum resolution at the center of the EXCLAIM band over a field of view of 22.5'. Illumination of the 1.7 K cold stop combined with blackened baffling at multiple places in the optical system ensures low (<-40 dB) edge illumination of the primary to minimize spill onto warmer elements at the top of the dewar., (© 2025 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).)
- Published
- 2025
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