ALMA Band 9 upgrade: a feasibility study

TL;DR

This study assesses the feasibility of upgrading ALMA Band 9 receivers to improve sensitivity, bandwidth, and polarimetric performance, demonstrating promising lab and on-sky results with potential for significant observational gains.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new Sideband-separating mixer architecture for ALMA Band 9, extending bandwidth and enhancing polarimetric capabilities, supported by both simulations and experimental validation.

Findings

2SB mixers achieve >20 dB image rejection

On-sky tests show successful spectral line observations

Upgrade could double observation efficiency

Abstract

We present the results of a study on the feasibility of upgrading the existing ALMA Band 9 receivers (602-720 GHz). In the current configuration, each receiver is a dual channel heterodyne system capable of detecting orthogonally polarized signals through the use of a wire grid and a compact arrangement of mirrors. The main goals of the study are the upgrade of the mixer architecture from Double-Sideband (DSB) to Sideband-separating (2SB), the extension of the IF and RF bandwidth, and the analysis of the possibilities of improving the polarimetric performance. We demonstrate the performance of 2SB mixers both in the lab and on-sky with the SEPIA660 receiver at APEX, which shows image rejection ratios exceeding 20 dB and can perform successful observations of several spectral lines close to the band edges. The same architecture in ALMA Band 9 would lead to an increase in the effective spectral sensitivity and a gain of a factor two in observation time. We set up also an electromagnetic model of the optics to simulate the polarization performance of the receivers, which is currently limited by the cross-polar level and the beam squint, i.e. pointing mismatch between the two polarizations. We present the results of the simulations compared to the measurements and we conclude that the use of a polarizing grid is the main responsible of the limitations.