Subsystem for Solar Photometry and Imaging in the Terahertz Range

P. KAUFMANN; OTTO BAUER; E. BORTOLUCCI; MARTA M. CASSIANO; J.A. DINIZ; R. GODOY; M. KORNBERG; A. S. KUDAKA; H. LEVATO; R. MARCON; A. MARUN; ARLINE M. MELO; P. PEREYRA; MARIA H. PIAZZETTA; ALBRECHT POGLITSCH; MARIA BENY ZAKIA

Passa Quatro

Congreso; XXXIV Reunião Anual da Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira; 2008

Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira

Passive sensing in the terahertz range of targets on a bright background posestechnical challenges. We report the fabrication and tests obtained for resonantband-pass mesh filters fabricated for photometry and imaging at discretefrequencies ranging from 0.4 to 10 THz, and for rough mirrors to suppress nearIRthermal radiation. Optical setups using a small aperture coupled to 30 THzun-cooled FPA(focal plane array) cameras demonstrate the limit sensitivities onthe solar disk for high cadence rate observations. Obtained detection of < 0.2 Kcorrespond to system noise equivalent power (NEP) of about 4 10-8 W/Hz0.5, allowing minimum flux measurements of about 6 solar flux units (SFU).