de Graauw, Th. and Helmich, F.P. and Phillips , T.G. and Stutzki, J. and Caux, E. and Whyborn, N.D. and Dieleman, P. and Roelfsema, P.R. and Aarts, H. and Assendorp, R. and Bachiller, R. and Baechtold, W. and Barcia, A. and Beintema, D.A. and Belitsky, V. and Benz, A.O. and Bieber, R. and Boogert, A. and Borys, C. and Bumble, B. and Cais, P. and Caris, M. and Cerulli-Irelli, P. and Chattopadhyay, G. and Cherednichenko, S. and Ciechanowicz, M. and Coeur-Joly, O. and Comito, C. and Cros, A. and de Jonge, A. and de Lange, G. and Delforges, B. and Delorme, Y. and den Boggende, T. and Desbat, J.-M. and Diez-Gonzalez, C. and Di Giorgio, A.M. and Dubbeldam, L. and Edwards, K. and Eggens, M. and Erickson, N. and Evers, J. and Fich, M. and Finn, T. and Franke, B. and Gaier, T. and Gal, C. and Gao, J.R. and Gallego, J.-D. and Gauffre, S. and Gill, J.J. and Glenz, S. and Golstein, H. and Goulooze, H. and Gunsing, T. and Gusten, R. and Hartogh, P. and Hatch, W.A. and Higgins, R. and Honingh, E.C. and Huisman, R. and Jackson, B.D. and Jacobs, H. and Jacobs, K. and Jarchow, C. and Javadi, H. and Jellema, W. and Justen, M. and Karpov, A. and Kasemann, C. and Kawamura, J. and Keizer, G. and Kester, D. and Klapwijk, T.M. and Klein, Th. and Kollberg, E. and Kooi, J. and Kooiman, P.-P. and Kopf, B. and Krause, M. and Krieg, J.-M. and Kramer, C. and Kruizenga, B. and Kuhn, T. and Laauwen, W. and Lai, R. and Larsson, B. and Leduc, H.G. and Leinz, C. and Lin, R.H. and Liseau, R. and Liu, G.S. and Loose, A. and Lopez-Fernandez, I. and Lord, S. and Luinge, W. and Marston, A. and Martin-Pintado, J. and Maestrini, A. and Maiwald, F.W. and McCoey, C. and Mehdi, I. and Megej, A. and Melchior, M. and Meinsma, L. and Merkel, H. and Michalska, M. and Monstein, C. and Moratschke, D. and Morris, P. and Muller, H. and Murphy, J.Anthony and Naber, A. and Natale, E. and Nowosielski, W. and Nuzzolo, F. and Olberg, M. and Olbrich, M. and Orfei, R. and Orleanski, P. and Ossenkopf, V. and Peacock, T. and Pearson, J.C. and Peron, I. and Phillip-May, S. and Piazzo, L. and Planesas, P. and Rataj, M. and Ravera, L. and Risacher, C. and Salez, M. and Samoska, L.A. and Saraceno, P. and Schieder, R. and Schlecht, E. and Schloder, F. and Schmulling, F. and Schultz, M. and Schuster, K. and Siebertz, O. and Smit, H. and Szczerba, R. and Shipman, R. and Steinmetz, E. and Stern, J.A. and Stokroos, M. and Teipen, R. and Teyssier, D. and Tils, T. and Trappe, Neil and van Baaren, C. and van Leeuwen, B.-J. and van de Stadt, H. and Visser, H. and Wildeman, K.J. and Wafelbakker, C.K. and Ward, J.S. and Wesselius, P. and Wild, W. and Wulff, S. and Wunsch, H.-J. and Tielens, X. and Zaal, P. and Zirath, H. and Zmuidzinas, J. and Zwart, F. (2010) The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 518 (L.6). pp. 1-7. ISSN 0004-6361

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Abstract

Aims. This paper describes the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) that was launched onboard ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory in May 2009. Methods. The instrument is a set of 7 heterodyne receivers that are electronically tuneable, covering 480−1250 GHz with SIS mixers and the 1410−1910 GHz range with hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The local oscillator (LO) subsystem comprises a Ka-band synthesizer followed by 14 chains of frequency multipliers and 2 chains for each frequency band. A pair of auto-correlators and a pair of acousto-optical spectrometers process the two IF signals from the dual-polarization, single-pixel front-ends to provide instantaneous frequency coverage of 2 × 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 kms−1. Results. After a successful qualification and a pre-launch TB/TV test program, the flight instrument is now in-orbit and completed successfully the commissioning and performance verification phase. The in-orbit performance of the receivers matches the pre-launch sensitivities. We also report on the in-orbit performance of the receivers and some first results of HIFI’s operations.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	instrumentation; spectrographs – methods; observational – infrared; general – submillimeter; general – techniques; spectroscopic;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Experimental Physics
Item ID:	2083
Depositing User:	Dr. Neil Trappe
Date Deposited:	11 Aug 2010 15:32
Journal or Publication Title:	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.aanda.org/
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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