Conveners
Detectors for SII: QUASAR
- Stefan Funk (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg - ECAP)
The quantum properties of a gas of bosons were predicted by Einstein 100 years ago. The first experimental measurements of its consequences were performed by Hanbury-Brown & Twiss in 1954, obtaining the size of Sirius by correlating the arrival times of photons detected by two optical telescopes. Extremely large telescopes, 10ps resolution single photon detectors bring the key improvements to...
Optical intensity interferometry represents a powerful technique to probe astrophysical sources, such as accretion disks around compact stellar systems, at angular resolutions unattainable with conventional imaging methods. To address the stringent requirements of single-photon sensitivity and picosecond timing, we have designed a 110 nm CMOS integrated circuit combining a 528×16 SPAD array...
To achieve the angular resolutions required to resolve accretion disks using the intensity interferometry (II) technique, the QUASAR project employs multiple telescopes separated by baselines of up to several tens of kilometers. In this configuration, the conventional approach of delivering signals to a single acquisition system becomes impractical. Instead, precise clock distribution to...
We present the results of an implementation of a GPU-based correlator for timestamps. The effectiveness of the implementation was demonstrated following two data acquisition campaigns, at Skinakas and Calern observatories, where we registered zero and cross baseline data of a few bright stars. We will present the results of these observations, and the performance of the correlator compared to...
Recent developments in single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) have lowered detector time resolution to tens of picoseconds full width half maximum (FWHM), which represents a big enhancement compared to photon detection techniques used at the time of Hanburry Brown and Twiss. In the context of the QUASAR project, I will summarize the main enhancements and present the results obtained over the...
