Receivers for the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) Mission

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel dual-receiver system for the BHEX mission, combining high-frequency SIS mixers and low-noise amplifiers to achieve quantum-limited sensitivity for black hole photon ring detection.

Contribution

It introduces a new receiver architecture with integrated cryogenic components and phase transfer techniques for enhanced astrophysical observations.

Findings

Achieves quantum-limited sensitivity for black hole photon ring detection

Integrates dual-frequency receivers with cryogenic cooling and phase transfer

Enhances signal-to-noise ratio for astrophysical measurements

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the receiver architecture for the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) Mission, designed to reveal the photon ring of black holes. The primary instrument is a dual-polarization receiver operating over the 240-320 GHz frequency range, utilizing a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer. This Double-Side-Band (DSB) receiver has an intermediate frequency (IF) range of 4-12 GHz and operates at a bath temperature of 4.5 K, for optimal performance, which necessitates the integration of a cryocooler. Complementing the primary receiver is a secondary unit covering the 80-106 GHz spectrum, featuring a cryogenic low noise amplifier. This secondary receiver, affixed to the 20 K stage of the cryocooler, serves to augment the SIS receiver performance by employing the Frequency Phase Transfer technique to boost the signal-to-noise ratio at the correlator output. Together, this sophisticated receiver duo is engineered to achieve the quantum-limited sensitivity required to detect the photon ring of black holes, marking a breakthrough in astrophysical observation.