Technology for Submillimeter Astronomy

Despite about three decades of progress, the field of submillimeter astronomy remains quite challenging, because the detection technology is still under development and the transmission of the atmosphere is poor. The latter problem has been overcome by constructing submillimeter telescopes at excellent sites, first on Mauna Kea and later in Chile and Antarctica, and also by using airborne and space telescopes. Meanwhile, the improvements in technology over the past several decades have been remarkable. While considerable opportunities for improvement remain, existing detector and receiver technologies now often approach fundamental limits. This technological revolution has brought submillimeter astronomy from the fringes to the forefront of modern astrophysics and has stimulated major investments such as the 50-element ALMA interferometer and the ESA/NASA Herschel Space Observatory.