Far-Infrared Kinetic Inductance Detectors at NIST-Boulder

Dr. Jason Austermann (NIST)

The far-infrared (FIR) astronomical sky remains relatively unexplored due to a combination of the Earth’s atmosphere being largely opaque in the FIR and a technological landscape that typically lags what is available at other wavelengths. The prospect of a space-based probe mission in the far-infrared, such as that recommended in the Astro2020 decadal survey, has invigorated the FIR community and has helped inspire new activity and interest in far-infrared science and technological development. At NIST-Boulder we are developing Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) and other technologies with direct applicability to various types of FIR experiments.

Kinetic inductance detectors carry the promise of a truly scalable detector solution, capable of filling the large and densely populated focal planes envisioned for future FIR and millimeter-wave instruments, while also being capable of meeting some of the ambitious sensitivity and dynamic range goals of a future probe mission. At NIST, we have developed and fabricated a wide range of detector, optical coupling, and readout technologies to further advance these technologies for use in a variety of current and future experiments. This includes the development of all-new FIR detectors as part of a recent exploration of a possible upgrade to the SOFIA/HAWC+ instrument. Here I review the latest NIST technologies and advancements relevant to FIR science and explore some of the exciting paths forward.

Efficient Star Formation in Dusty Galaxies

Dr. Jed McKinney (UT Austin)

Star-formation depends on the physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM), where gas cooling, heating, and feedback from stars and supermassive black holes all compete to drive the evolution of galaxies. My research focuses on characterizing the cold gas from which stars form to better understand the origin of high star-formation rates in luminous, infrared (IR) galaxies today and in the past. In this talk, I will present mid- through far-infrared spectroscopy which I use to measure physical quantities of interstellar gas and dust at z = 0 and z ~2. IR-luminous galaxies at all redshifts efficiently form their stars, and exhibit low gas heating efficiencies and high star-formation rate surface densities, suggesting a link between parsec-scale ISM properties and global evolution of the galaxy. I will present recent work on further characterizing galaxies with high star-formation rate surface densities between z = 0-2, and discuss next steps with the James Webb Space Telescope to extend this analysis to z > 3.