@inproceedings{d8bed8cadf67410888000abaccbf6bc2,
title = "Receivers for the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) Mission",
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 cryocooler{\textquoteright}s 20 K stage, serves to augment the SIS receiver{\textquoteright}s 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.",
keywords = "Black Holes, HEMT receiver, optical diplexer, SIS Receivers, space cryogenics, Space VLBI",
author = "Tong, {C. Edward} and Kazunori Akiyama and Paul Grimes and Mareki Honma and Janice Houston and Johnson, {Michael D.} and Marrone, {Daniel P.} and Hannah Rana and Yoshinori Uzawa",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 SPIE.; Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave ; Conference date: 16-06-2024 Through 22-06-2024",
year = "2024",
doi = "10.1117/12.3018054",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
publisher = "SPIE",
editor = "Coyle, {Laura E.} and Shuji Matsuura and Perrin, {Marshall D.}",
booktitle = "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024",
}