CONDOR - an astronomical heterodyne receiver at 1.25 - 1.53 THz

The CO N⁺ Deuterium Observations Receiver (CONDOR) is an astronomical heterodyne receiver that successfully operates between 1.25-1.53 THz. The instrument follows the standard heterodyne design, using a solid state local oscillator and a superconducting NbTiN hot electron bolometer (HEB) as a mixer. For easy maintenance at the telescope CONDOR is the first receiver that cools the HEB with a closed-cycle system using a pulse tube cooler. The system has receiver noise temperatures around 1500 K and spectral Allan variance times of about 30 s. In November 2005, CONDOR was successfully commissioned on the 12-m Atacama Pathfinder Experiment.