A new LHe-free cryostat for the heterodyne SIS receiver for the Leighton Chajnantor Telescope

Abstract

The Leighton Chajnantor Telescope (LCT) is an international collaborative program among Caltech, Shanghai Normal University (ShNU), and Universidad de Concepción (UdeC), aiming at the refurbishment and relocation of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) telescope from Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to the Chajnantor Plateau, northern Chile. A suite of excellent-sensitivity heterodyne superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) receivers will be deployed to the telescope as the first set of instrumentations for high-resolution spectral observation. However, the current refrigeration technology for this receiver utilizes liquid helium (LHe), which greatly increases the cost of cooling and labor. To address this problem, a new LHe-free cryostat for the LCT heterodyne SIS receiver has been designed, fabricated, and tested. Mechanical and thermal analyses were performed to ensure that the cryostat meets the requirements of the telescope pointing accuracy and the SIS junction working environment, respectively. The experiment testing results are in good agreement with the calculation and analysis, indicating that the proposed LHe-free cryostat meets the operational requirements of the telescope at the new site.