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 x 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 kms(-1). Result. 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.

The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) / T., D.G., F. P., H., T. G., P., J., S., E., C., N. D., W., P., D., P. R., R., H., A., R., A., R., B., W., B., A., B., D. A., B., V., B., A. O., B., R., B., A., B., C., B., B., B., et al.. - In: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. - ISSN 0004-6361. - 518:2(2010), p. L6. [10.1051/0004-6361/201014698]

The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI)

PIAZZO, Lorenzo;
2010

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 x 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 kms(-1). Result. 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.
2010
instrumentation: spectrographs; methods: observational; infrared: general; submillimeter: general; techniques: spectroscopic
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) / T., D.G., F. P., H., T. G., P., J., S., E., C., N. D., W., P., D., P. R., R., H., A., R., A., R., B., W., B., A., B., D. A., B., V., B., A. O., B., R., B., A., B., C., B., B., B., et al.. - In: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. - ISSN 0004-6361. - 518:2(2010), p. L6. [10.1051/0004-6361/201014698]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/43414
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