A Cryogenic Wideband (2.5-14 GHz) Receiver system for the Arecibo 12m Telescope

TL;DR

This paper details the design, construction, and successful commissioning of a cryogenic wideband receiver (2.5-14 GHz) for the Arecibo 12m telescope, enhancing its observational capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cryogenic wideband receiver system for the Arecibo telescope, covering 2.5-14 GHz, with improved RFI mitigation and system temperature performance.

Findings

Receiver operates effectively from 2.5 to 14 GHz.

Achieved median receiver temperature of 25 K.

System temperature around 40 K at key frequencies.

Abstract

In this paper we present details of the construction of a wideband, cryogenic receiver and its successful commissioning on the Arecibo 12m telescope. The cryogenic receiver works in the 2.5-14 GHz frequency range. The telescope is operated by the Arecibo Observatory, and is located within the premises of the Observatory. We upgraded the current narrow band, room temperature receivers of the telescope with the new wideband receiver. The current receiver is built around a Quadruple-Ridged Flared Horn (QRHF) developed by Akgiray et al. (2013). To mitigate strong radio frequency interference (RFI) below 2.7 GHz, we installed a highpass filter before the first stage low noise amplifier (LNA). The QRHF, highpass filter, noise coupler and LNA are located inside a cryostat and are cooled to 15 K. The measured receiver temperature is 25 K (median value) over 2.5 GHz to 14 GHz. The system temperature measured at zenith is about 40 K near 3.1 and 8.6 GHz and the zenith antenna gains are 0.025 and 0.018 K/Jy at the two frequencies respectively. In the next stage of the development, we plan to upgrade the highpass filter in order to achieve better RFI rejection near 2.5 GHz, improve the aperture efficiency at 8.6 GHz and upgrade the IF system to increase the upper frequency of operation from 12 GHz to 14 GHz.