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The European Southern Observatory gives the opportunity to develop new third generation instruments for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. Therefore, adaptive optics systems need to be upgraded, either for NAOMI on a 1.8-m auxiliary telescope or for MACAO on a 8-m unit telescope. It enables to access to new science cases such as active galactic nuclei with the GRAVITY+ project. We study here the requirements of such AO upgrade by increasing the number of sub-apertures of the wave-front sensor and the number of actuators of the deformable mirror. We evaluate the needs for a high-Strehl mode in the visible and near infrared wavelengths in various conditions of observation. We present numerical simulations to quantify the performance. We show that a moderate upgrade of NAOMI, and a significant upgrade of MACAO can enable both better dynamic range and sensitivity with the VLTI.

European countries are currently exploring strategies to ensure a strong level of security of energy supply while decreasing its reliance on natural gas imports. With the strong surge in shale gas developments in the USA, similar ambitions have been the ongoing subject of inquiry in Europe. Detailed knowledge about extraction costs is a key issue in determining future shale gas investments in Europe. The paper at hand analyses the potential of European shale gas resources, highlighting their competitiveness against conventional natural gas. It examines the current volume of shale gas resources in Europe and performs a detailed cost calculation to provide an estimation of shale gas production costs. The results indicate that under current market conditions the repetition of the US shale gas boom is by all measures improbable in Europe. Furthermore, in the case that natural prices were to return to historically higher levels, only a few highly productive shale gas formations would be economically competitive.

MICADO, the Multi-AO-Imaging-Camera and Spectrometer for Deep Observations, is one of the first light instruments for the future 40 m class Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). MICADO utilizes the advanced laser guide star multiconjugate adaptive optics system MCAO developed by the MAORY consortium and the jointly developed singleconjugate adaptive optics system (SCAO). We present an overview on the conceptual design of the MICADO Cold Optical Instrument (COI) which comprises the infrared focal plane imager with its 3 x 3 4k2 HgCdTe detector array and a compact cross-dispersing slit spectrometer operating in the spectral range of 0.8 to 2.4 μm. High contrast imaging is enabled via a classical configuration of coronagraph and Lyot stops. The paper summarizes the MICADO COI interchangeable optics, its cryogenic implementation together with the modular opto-mechanical configuration of the cryo-mechanisms and the cryo-vacuum cooling system, which consists of a continuous LN2 flow cryostat.

MICADO is the European ELT first-light imager, working in the near-infrared at the telescope diffraction limit. Provided by MAORY, the ELT first-light adaptive optics module (AO), MCAO will be the primary AO mode of MICADO, driving the design of the instrument. MICADO will also come with a SCAO capability. Developed under MICADO’s responsibility and jointly by MICADO and MAORY, SCAO will be the first AO mode to be tested at the telescope, in a phased approach of the AO integration at the ELT. The MICADO-MAORY SCAO preliminary design review (PDR) will occur in November 2018. We present here different activities and results we have had in the past two years preparing this PDR, covering several fields (opto-mechanics, electronics, real-time and control software, integration and tests, AO simulations and performance, prototyping) and the different SCAO subsystems (pyramid wavefront sensor, calibration unit, real-time computer, dichroic and the so-called Green Doughnut which hosts the SCAO assembly as well as the MAORY MCAO natural guide star wavefront sensors).

MICADO is one of the first light instruments at the E-ELT and is designed to work with the MCAO system MAORY. The ability to operate in a stand-alone mode without MAORY includes an additional SCAO wavefront sensing system. Therefore, the instrument support structure has to fulfil two purposes, a) the positioning of the camera in its stand-alone mode and b) when it will be mounted downstream of the MCAO facility MAORY. The instrument support structure of MICADO is addressed regarding its basic functionalities such as passive and possible active positioning of the instrument. Very first FEA results will be given as well as other performance assessments.

The Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) is the next-generation adaptive optics near-IR imager and spectrograph for the Cassegrain focus of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Unit Telescope 4, which will soon make full use of the Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF). It is a high-Strehl AO-assisted instrument that will use the Deformable Secondary Mirror (DSM) and the new Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF). The project has been approved for construction and has entered its preliminary design phase. ERIS will be constructed in a collaboration including the MaxPlanck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik, the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich and the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri and will offer 1 – 5 μm imaging and 1 – 2.5 μm integral field spectroscopic capabilities with a high Strehl performance. Wavefront sensing can be carried out with an optical high-order NGS Pyramid wavefront sensor, or with a single laser in either an optical low-order NGS mode, or with a near-IR low-order mode sensor. Due to its highly sensitive visible wavefront sensor, and separate near-IR low-order mode, ERIS provides a large sky coverage with its 1’ patrol field radius that can even include AO stars embedded in dust-enshrouded environments. As such it will replace, with a much improved single conjugated AO correction, the most scientifically important imaging modes offered by NACO (diffraction limited imaging in the J to M bands, Sparse Aperture Masking and Apodizing Phase Plate (APP) coronagraphy) and the integral field spectroscopy modes of SINFONI, whose instrumental module, SPIFFI, will be upgraded and re-used in ERIS. As part of the SPIFFI upgrade a new higher resolution grating and a science detector replacement are envisaged, as well as PLC driven motors. To accommodate ERIS at the Cassegrain focus, an extension of the telescope back focal length is required, with modifications of the guider arm assembly. In this paper we report on the status of the baseline design. We will also report on the main science goals of the instrument, ranging from exoplanet detection and characterization to high redshift galaxy observations. We will also briefly describe the SINFONI-SPIFFI upgrade strategy, which is part of the ERIS development plan and the overall project timeline.

This paper presents the mission profile as well as the optical configuration of the space-borne AsteroidFinder telescope. Its main objective is to retrieve asteroids with orbits interior to Earth’s orbit. The instrument requires high sensitivity to detect asteroids with a limiting magnitude of equal or larger than 18.5mag (V-Band) and astrometric accuracy of 1arcsec (1σ). This requires a telescope aperture greater than 400cm², high image stability, detectors with high quantum efficiency (peak > 90%) and very low noise, which is only limited by zodiacal background. The telescope will observe the sky between 30° and 60° in solar elongation. The telescope optics is based on a Cook type TMA. An effective 2°×2° field of view (FOV) is achieved by a fast F/3.4 telescope with near diffraction-limited performance. The absence of center obscuration or spiders in combination with an accessible intermediate field plane and exit pupil allow for efficient stray light mitigation. Design drivers for the telescope are the required point spread function (PSF) values, an extremely efficient stray light suppression (due to the magnitude requirement mentioned above), the detector performance, and the overall optical and mechanical stability for all orientations of the satellite. To accommodate the passive thermal stabilization scheme and the necessary structural stability, the materials selection for the telescope main structure and the mirrors are of vital importance. A focal plane with four EMCCD detectors is envisaged. The EMCCD technology features shorter integration times, which is in favor regarding the pointing performance of the satellite. The launch of the mission is foreseen for the year 2013 with a subsequent mission lifetime of at least 1 year.

The performance of NbN-based phonon-cooled hot electron bolometric (HEB) quasioptical mixers is investigated in the 0.7-3.1 THz frequency range. The devices are made from a 3.5-4 nm thick NbN film on high resistivity Si and integrated with a planar spiral antenna on the same substrate. The length of the bolometer microbridge is 0.1-0.2 µm; the width is 1-2 µm. The best results of the DSB receiver noise temperature measured at 1.5 GHz intermediate frequency are: 800 K at 0.7 THz, 1100 K at 1.6 THz, 2000 K at 2.5 THz and 4200 K at 3.1 THz. The measurements were performed with a far infrared laser as the local oscillator (LO) source. The estimated LO power requirement is less than 500 nW at the receiver input. First results on spiral antenna polarization measurements are reported.

Imaging spectrometers featuring a grating disperser allow for a compact system design. However, due to the limited diffraction efficiency of the grating these instruments suffer from low throughput and high sensitivity to polarization. Prism spectrometers do not have these disadvantages, but they show a low angular dispersion with noticeable non-linearity, which is the main driver of the overall spectrometer dimensions. The envelope of a prism spectrometer can be significantly decreased when prisms with curved surfaces are used. They allow for a reconfiguration of the concentric Offner relay which is well known for its good imaging quality and its low distortion. In the document at hand a novel type of compact Offner spectrometers with curved prisms is presented. As an example the optic design of EnMAP, a German space born hyperspectral imager is given.

The Herschel Space Observatory is a passively cooled 3.5 m telescope (Tmirror < 90 K) scheduled for launch in 2007. One of its three scientific instruments is PACS (Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer) which will carry out astronomical observations in the wavelength range of 57 μm to 210 μm with unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution. PACS has two cameras for imaging spectroscopy in two wavelength bands from 57 μm to 130 μm and 130 μm to 210 μm. Both cameras are built up from 25 linear arrays, each with 16 detector pixels consisting of Gallium doped Germanium crystals. By stressing these crystals with a bolt­spring mechanism, the desired cut­-off wavelengths of ~ 127 μm and ~ 205 μm can be reached. The detectors are operated at temperatures of ~ 2 K and read out by cryogenic readout electronics (CRE), featuring pre­amplifiers and multiplexers. Test facilities have been designed and built up at MPIA, Heidelberg, and MPE, Garching, in order to characterize and calibrate the spectrometer cameras before integration into the instrument. Both test facilities have a cryostat cooled by superfluid liquid helium. While the MPE facility uses an internal cold black body to illuminate the camera, the facility at MPIA makes use of an external black body and cold attenuation filters. Tests of the qualification models of the spectrometer cameras show that the detector responsivity is ~ 8 A/W and ~ 40 A/W for the low and high stressed detectors respectively, surpassing the requirements. The NEP is currently limited by CRE readout noise and will be improved with the new generation of FM CREs. Ionizing irradiation significantly increases the detector responsivity, which might make it necessary to operate them with a lower bias voltage. On the other hand, radiation effects can be reliably cured by a combination of bias boosts and infrared flashes.

Heterodyne receivers for applications in astronomy need quantum limited sensitivity. We have investigated phonon- cooled NbN hot electron bolometric mixers in the frequency range from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The devices were 3.5 nm thin films with an in-plane dimension of 1.7 X 0.2 micrometers 2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic spiral antenna. The best measured DSB receiver noise temperatures are 1300 K (0.7 THz), 2000 K (1.4 THz), 2100 K (1.6 THz), 2600 K (2.5 THz), 4000 K (3.1 THz), 5600 K (4.3 THz), and 8800 K (5.2 THz). The sensitivity fluctuation, the long term stability, and the antenna pattern were measured. The results demonstrate that this mixer is very well suited for GREAT, the German heterodyne receiver for SOFIA.

We have investigated a phonon-cooled NbN hot electron bolometric (HEB) mixer in the frequency range from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The device was a 3.5 nm thin film with an in-plane dimension of l.7x0.2 jtm2 integrated in a complementarylogarithmic spiral antenna. The measured DSB receiver noise temperatures are 1500 K (0.7 THz), 2200 K (1.4 THz), 2600 K(1 .6 THz), 2900 K (2.5 THz), 4000 K (3.1 THz), 5600 K (4.3 THz), and 8800 K (5.2 THz). The sensitivity fluctuation, thelong term stability, and the antenna pattern were measured and the suitability of the mixer for a practical heterodyne receiver is discussed. Keywords: hot-electron bolometer, NbN, superconductor, mixer, terahertz, spiral antenna 1. INTRODUCTION High resolution heterodyne spectroscopy in the frequency range from 1 THz to 6 THz yields important information onastronomical objects as well as the atmosphere of the earth. Some prominent examples are the CII fine structure line at1 .6 THz and the 01 fme structure line at 4.75 THz

The imaging photopolarimeter ISOPHOT on-board the European satellite ISO houses 144 background detectors of Si:Ga, Si:P, Ge:Ga and stressed Ge:Ga, all sampled by newly developed cold read-out electronics. There is large temporal radiation damage to most of these detectors on the daily passage through the earth's radiation belts. In addition the Ge:Ga detectors exhibit a continuous responsivity increase caused by the cosmic radiation far off the earth. Effective curing procedure shave been developed to heat out these effects. The in-flight sensitivities achieved are close to the pre-flight predictions for most channels. At 100-200 micrometers cirrus confusion is a serious limit for the detection of faint objects on large parts of the sky. The cold filter wheel carrying 56 optical elements, such as filters, apertures and polarizers, as well as the focal plane chopper, operate with high precision and very low power consumption. Due to an effective cold internal baffle system the measured near-field straylight was close to the pre- flight theoretical prediction based on APART simulations. THe sun and moon straylight at 25 and 175 micrometers was measured during several solar eclipses. Drift and transients of the detectors, non-linearities of the preamplifiers, ionizing radiation effects and a complex optical path make the photometric calibration of this instrument challenging. Because most of these effects are reproducible, a calibration accuracy of < 30 percent is already available for most photometric modes. Examples of observations, including the 175 micrometers Serendipitous Sky Survey, will highlight the capabilities of the instrument.

LISA is the low resolution imaging spectrometer channel for SPICA. the proposed spectral-photometric-IR camera for the joint US and German stratospheric far IR observatory SOFIA. LISA will cover a spectral range from 40 micrometers to 220 micrometers at a spectral resolution (lambda) /(Delta) (lambda) approximately 22. It will record simultaneously individual diffraction limited spectra from several tens to several hundreds spatial positions of a rectangular field of view on the sky. A novel technical and optical solution will be presented for such an approach together with a brief discussion on the expected performance and possible astronomical applications.

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, is a joint US and German project and will start observations from altitudes up to 45,000 ft in late 2001. The 2.5 m telescope is being developed in Germany while the 747- aircraft modifications and preparation of the observatory's operations center is done by a US consortium. Several research institutions and universities of both countries have started to develop science instruments. The DLR Institute of Space Sensor Technology in Berlin plans on a spectral-photometric camera working in the 20 to 220 micrometers wavelength range, using doped silicon and germanium extrinsic photoconductors in large, 2D arrays: silicon blocked-impurity band detectors, Ge:Ga and stressed Ge:Ga. While the silicon array will be commercially available, the germanium arrays have to be developed, including their cryogenic multiplexers. Partner institutions in Germany and the US will support the development of the instrument and its observations.

The spectral-photometric IR camera SPICA is proposed as one of the German science instruments of the Stratospheric Observatory for IR Astronomy (SOFIA). It will cover a wavelength range of 20-220 micrometers with three large area detector arrays. With the 2.5 m SOFIA telescope, SPICA will provide unprecedented diffraction limited spatial resolution in the far-IR. In addition, low resolution 3D-imaging spectroscopy is planned. While the silicon array will be commercially available, the germanium arrays are being developed, including their cryogenic multiplexers. The overall instrument concept, its camera optics and the status of the detector development will be presented. The instrument is being developed by the DLR Institute of Space Sensor Technology in Berlin with support of several German and US partners.

ISOPHOT is one of the four focal plane instruments of the astronomical infrared space observatory (ISO). In its flight spare model the sensitivity of two photo-polarimeters could be significantly improved by replacing bulk Si:Ga and Si:B detectors by Si:As blocked impurity- band detectors. These detector elements were selected for low dark current to allow for low background observations in the LHe-cooled ISO telescope. Their operational parameters temperature and bias voltage were optimized for best sensitivity when operated with the ISOPHOT cryogenic readout electronics. At fluxes of about 10-16 W/pixel and temperatures of 2.9-3.6 K, NEPDET equals 5 X 10-18 W/Hz and R equals 23-36 A/W were measured. Their dynamic flux response is much faster than in bulk Si:Ga. Radiation-hardness has been tested by simulating the passage through the radiation belts on the ISO-orbit with a gamma source.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

We have studied potential effects of the ISO spacecraft orbital radiation environment on the transmission of infrared interference filters and filter materials. To simulate the critical proton radiation within the earth radiation belts and its influence on the materials at cryogenic temperatures the samples were cooled to LHe temperature and subjected to an Am-241 (alpha) -radiation source (approximately 4.1 MeV) mounted inside a cryostat. The dose per hour absorbed in a 20 micron thick layer, the mean penetration depth for the (alpha) particles, was about 25 krad (Si). The substrates Ge, ZnSe, and CaF2 and three tested ISOPHOT interference bandpass filters (3.21-3.37 micrometers and 2-50 micrometers even after a total dose of approximately 0.5 Mrad (Si), which is more than 100 times the expected total dose for ISOPHOT. The multilayer interference blocking coating on sapphire used on all ISOPHOT far infrared filters to block the wavelength range 1.7-6.7 micrometers showed no degeneration either. The organic far infrared antireflex coating materials polyethylene deposited on a quartz substrate, and a 15 micrometers thick parylene foil used as field lens coating, were investigated in the wavelength range of 16-300 micrometers . Our data suggests a slightly reduced transmission < 6% after 350 krad (Si) exposure.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Low-background IR detectors have a very long-term transient response which, what is more, is highly dependent on the preceding irradiations. For these reasons to determine with a high precision the radiation flux of a cool space object, it has to be measured for a long time. The theory presented in this paper describes the detector operation under frequent flux changes and allows precise determination of the flux values from fast measurements, in spite of the strong memory effects. The theory is specialized for the ISOPHOT Si:Ga detector arrays and is confirmed by the experiments. Its use has to add to the productivity of the launched apparatus.

The far-infrared filters for the satellite subexperiment ISOPHOT have to fulfil a number of specific requirements. This is a report about the developed filter concept which was used to match all specifications. In a wide wavelength region this concept is capable of defining broad or narrow bandpasses in a flexible way. The filters which have been constructed are robust and survive multiple cryogenic cycles. They combine high passband transmission with extreme stopband rejection. Details are given for some representative ISOPHOT FIR-filters.

ISOPHOT, the photo-polarimeter on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) uses high sensitivity doped silicon and germanium photodetectors working in the wavelength range form 2.4 to 240 micrometers . Under low IR-background conditions such detectors show long and non-linear response relaxation to a step change of IR-illumination. We will show that this nonideal behavior can be described with high precision at least for the PHT-S Si:Ga detectors. In space, high- energy radiation will strongly influence the performance of the detectors operated a low temperature. Irradiation tests using a (gamma) -radiation source were performed on our Ge:Ga and stressed Ge:Ga detector simulating the radiation environment on the ISO orbit. We found annealing procedures for the detectors which restore the photometric calibrations to within a few percent.

The flight model of ISOPHOT has been completed and delivered to ESA. The pre-flight calibration verified the high performance specifications for the far-infrared detector channels. At times, limiting factors in orbit may be high-energy-radiation induced noise and responsivity drifts after passage through the radiation belts, and signal drifts following large incident flux changes.

A calibration facility simulating the optical and cryogenic environment of the ISO satellite has been built for characterizing the ISOPHOT instrument. This facility uses a commercially calibrated, 900 K--blackbody radiation source and an optics at room temperature to provide an f/15 beam to the instrument which is contained in a LHe-cryostat. The low level infrared flux levels of ISO are obtained by use of a light sealed instrument chamber and cold attenuation filters. The infrared flux can be calculated using the known blackbody emission and the cold calibrated transmission spectra of the filters. The calibration facility further provides a scanning mechanism, a light modulator and filters for polarization measurements and wavelength calibrations of the ISOPHOT spectrometer channels. Electrical support equipment for the instrument operation and software for data archiving and analysis have been customized for this project. The test program comprised a standardized acceptance test for the entire instrument and special tests addressing individual instrument properties. The data obtained contain the photometric sensitivities of ISOPHOT, optimized instrument settings, reference data for the integrated system tests and inputs for the ongoing mission planning.

A calibration facility simulating the optical and cryogenic environment of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) satellite has been built for characterizing the ISO photometer (ISOPHOT). This facility uses a commercially calibrated 900-K blackbody radiation source and optics at room temperature to provide an f /15 beam to the instrument, which is contained in a LHe cryostat. The low-level infrared flux levels of the ISO are obtained by using a light-sealed instrument chamber and cold attenuation filters. The infrared flux can be calculated using the known blackbody emission and the cold calibrated transmission spectra of the filters. The calibration facility further provides a scanning mechanism, a light modulator, and filters for polarization measurements and wavelength calibrations of the ISOPHOT spectrometer channels. Electrical support equipment for the instrument operation and software for data archiving and analysis have been customized for this project. The test program comprised a standardized acceptance test for the entire instrument and special tests addressing individual instrument properties. The data obtained contain the photometric sensitivities of ISOPHOT, optimized instrument settings, reference data for the integrated system tests, and inputs for the ongoing mission planning.