MADE IN NAOJ! ALMA Receiver development Part. 1

21 April, 2015 / Read time: 1 minute

This video presents the first part of the manufacturing process for the Japanese antennas’ sensitive receivers for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), developed at the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). 

These engineering masterpieces are capable of detecting faint signals emitted by distant objects observed by the ALMA antennas. Each of the 3 receivers is associated with a band and can observe at different frequencies (as shown at minute 1:45). 

Inside these receivers is a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) chip, a finely detailed piece of circuitry that is nanometers and micrometers thick. Find out how it was built in this short documentary. 

To see the second part of this documentary, click here.

Credits: National Astronomy Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)