IO:I: A Near-Infrared Camera for the Liverpool Telescope

TL;DR

IO:I is a near-infrared camera installed on the Liverpool Telescope, utilizing a refurbished cryostat and advanced detector technology to extend observational capabilities into the near-infrared spectrum.

Contribution

This paper details the design, retrofitting, and characterization of a new near-infrared camera for the Liverpool Telescope, including hardware, software, and on-sky testing.

Findings

Achieved low read noise and high linearity in detector performance

Successfully integrated the camera with autonomous data reduction pipeline

Demonstrated effective photometric performance on-sky

Abstract

IO:I is a new instrument that has recently been commissioned for the Liverpool Telescope, extending current imaging capabilities beyond the optical and into the near infrared. Cost has been minimised by use of a previously decommissioned instrument's cryostat as the base for a prototype and retrofitting it with Teledyne's 1.7$\mu m$ cutoff Hawaii-2RG HgCdTe detector, SIDECAR ASIC controller and JADE2 interface card. In this paper, the mechanical, electronic and cryogenic aspects of the cryostat retrofitting process will be reviewed together with a description of the software/hardware setup. This is followed by a discussion of the results derived from characterisation tests, including measurements of read noise, conversion gain, full well depth and linearity. The paper closes with a brief overview of the autonomous data reduction process and the presentation of results from photometric testing conducted on on-sky, pipeline processed data.