A high performance terahertz receiver aiming for space
missions such as ESA’s “Jupiter icy moons explorer” has been developed in a
joint European effort, led by Chalmers University of Technology.
Remote analysis of gases and vapours by heterodyne
spectroscopy is a powerful tool in environmental monitoring, astronomy, and
planetary research. Particularly for space applications, compact, light-weight
and robust heterodyne spectrometers are necessary.
In a joint European effort, researchers have developed a
heterodyne receiver which satisfies the requirements set by space missions.
This is achieved by minimising the number of components in the local oscillator
(LO) of the receiver, and by a high degree of integration of all of its
subcomponents.