Spectral and Photometric Calibration Sources for Infrared Instrumentation

Figure 1:Cryo-cooled optical bench (20 °K) used for the RTD-blackbody illuminance test.

 OAPd is experimenting calibration units to be used in near and medium infrared instrumentation. The system belongs to the 'black body' and 'integrating-sphere' category and has been developed during the phase-A study as part of the space based imager-spectrograph instrument MIRI (Medium Infrared Instrument) to be inserted on the NASA-ESA mission JWST (James Webb Space Telescope). A voltage driven resistance temperature device (RTD) is used as active thermal light source with spectral energy distribution determined by the working temperature and material characteristics, while the integrating sphere is used in order to create a Lambertian beam of calibration light. The system would provide light both for flat-fielding calibration and, in a further development, for wavelength calibration making use of interferential plates and of the same illumination optics.

People: F. Bortoletto, C. Bonoli, A. Frigo, E. Giro, D. Magrin, L. Traverso

Collaboration:

Publications: Bortoletto et al (2006), SPIE Proc., 5897,148