The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI)
de Graauw, Th.; Beintema, D. A.; Murphy, J. A.; Liseau, R.; Hartogh, P.; Martín-Pintado, J.; Morris, P.; Krause, M.; Teyssier, D.; Schieder, R.; Ossenkopf, V.; Erickson, N.; Planesas, P.; Bachiller, R.; Larsson, B.; Comito, C.; Phillips, T. G.; Caux, E.; Pearson, J. C.; Stutzki, J.; Trappe, N.; Olberg, M.; Szczerba, R.; Lin, R. H.; Samoska, L. A.; Schlecht, E.; Helmich, F. P.; Kramer, C.; Güsten, R.; Lord, S.; Schuster, K.; Higgins, R.; Risacher, C.; Benz, A. O.; Steinmetz, E.; Jarchow, C.; Siebertz, O.; Roelfsema, P. R.; Shipman, R.; Assendorp, R.; Boogert, A.; Borys, C.; Caris, M.; Coeur-Joly, O.; de Lange, G.; Dieleman, P.; Dubbeldam, L.; Edwards, K.; Fich, M.; Gal, C.; Huisman, R.; Jellema, W.; de Jonge, A.; Kester, D.; Kooi, J.; Laauwen, W.; Leinz, C.; Luinge, W.; Marston, A.; McCoey, C.; Melchior, M.; Michalska, M.; Nowosielski, W.; Ravera, L.; Schlöder, F.; Schmülling, F.; Zaal, P.; Saraceno, P.; Orfei, R.; Salez, M.; Megej, A.; Monstein, C.; di Giorgio, A. M.; Kasemann, C.; Zmuidzinas, J.; Bumble, B.; Karpov, A.; Krieg, J. -M.; Orleanski, P.; Rataj, M.; Evers, J.; Jacobs, H.; Visser, H.; Wildeman, K. J.; Tielens, X.; Hatch, W. A.; Mehdi, I.; Ward, J. S.; Jacobs, K.; Gaier, T.; Baechtold, W.; Chattopadhyay, G.; Gill, J. J.; Maiwald, F. W.; Javadi, H.; Cros, A.; Aarts, H.; Maestrini, A.; Teipen, R.; Tils, T.; Wesselius, P.; Loose, A.; Piazzo, L.; Natale, E.; Barcia, A.; Leduc, H. G.; Stern, J. A.; Justen, M.; Peacock, T.; Delorme, Y.; Goulooze, H.; Naber, A.; Whyborn, N. D.; Belitsky, V.; Bieber, R.; Caïs, P.; Cerulli-Irelli, P.; Cherednichenko, S.; Ciechanowicz, M.; Delforges, B.; den Boggende, T.; Desbat, J. -M.; Diez-González, C.; Eggens, M.; Finn, T.; Franke, B.; Gao, J. R.; Gallego, J. -D.; Gauffre, S.; Glenz, S.; Golstein, H.; Gunsing, T.; Honingh, E. C.; Jackson, B. D.; Kawamura, J.; Keizer, G.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Klein, Th.; Kollberg, E.; Kooiman, P. -P.; Kopf, B.; Kruizenga, B.; Kuhn, T.; Lai, R.; Liu, G. S.; López-Fernandez, I.; Meinsma, L.; Merkel, H.; Moratschke, D.; Muller, H.; Nuzzolo, F.; Olbrich, M.; Peron, I.; Phillip-May, S.; Schultz, M.; Smit, H.; Stokroos, M.; van Baaren, C.; van Leeuwen, B. -J.; van de Stadt, H.; Wafelbakker, C. K.; Wild, W.; Wulff, S.; Wunsch, H. -J.; Zirath, H.; Zwart, F.
Netherlands, Chile, United States, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Poland, Ireland
Abstract
Aims: This paper describes the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) that was launched onboard ESA's Herschel Space Observatory in May 2009.
Methods: The instrument is a set of 7 heterodyne receivers that are electronically tuneable, covering 480-1250 GHz with SIS mixers and the 1410-1910 GHz range with hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The local oscillator (LO) subsystem comprises a Ka-band synthesizer followed by 14 chains of frequency multipliers and 2 chains for each frequency band. A pair of auto-correlators and a pair of acousto-optical spectrometers process the two IF signals from the dual-polarization, single-pixel front-ends to provide instantaneous frequency coverage of 2 × 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 km s-1.
Results: After a successful qualification and a pre-launch TB/TV test program, the flight instrument is now in-orbit and completed successfully the commissioning and performance verification phase. The in-orbit performance of the receivers matches the pre-launch sensitivities. We also report on the in-orbit performance of the receivers and some first results of HIFI's operations.