WFOS instrument trade study: slicer vs. fiber instrument concept designs and results

Abstract

The Wide Field Optical Spectrometer (WFOS) is a seeing limited, multi-object spectrograph and first light instrument for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) scheduled for first observations in 2027. The spectrograph will deliver a minimum resolution of R~5,000 over a simultaneous wavelength range of 310 nm to 1,000 nm with a multiplexing goal of between 20 and 700 targets. The WFOS team consisting of partners in China, India, Japan, and the United States has completed a trade study of two competing concepts intended to meet the design requirements derived from the WFOS detailed science case. The first of these design concepts is a traditional slit mask instrument capable of delivering R~1,000 for up to 100 simultaneous targets using 1 x 7 arc second slits, and a novel focal plane slicing method for R~5,000 on up to 20 simultaneous targets can be achieved by reformatting the 1 arc-second wide slits into three 0.3 arc-second slits projected next to each other in the spatial direction. The second concept under consideration is a highly multiplexed fiber based system utilizing a robotic fiber positioning system at the focal plane containing 700 individual collectors, and a cluster of up to 12 replicated spectrographs with a minimum resolution of R~5,000 over the full pass band. Each collecting element will contain a bundle of 19 fibers coupled to micro-lens arrays that allow for contiguous coverage of targets and adaptation of the f/15 telescope beam to f/3.2 for feeding the fiber system. This report describes the baseline WFOS design, provides an overview of the two trade study concepts, and the process used to down-select between the two options. Also included is a risk assessment regarding the known technical challenges in the selected design concept.

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