Development of cryogenic phased array feeds for Radio Astronomy antennas

Abstract

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Brigham Young University are jointly working to develop phased array feed systems for use on radio astronomy reflector antennas. This paper describes recent progress in development of a cryogenically cooled L-band PAF receiver. Noise test results for dipole elements and cryogenic low-noise amplifier assemblies are presented. The results indicate it will be possible to achieve PAF system noise temperature competitive with the best single-beam radio astronomy receivers.