Overview of the Fiber System for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a revolutionary instrument designed for precise measurements of cosmic distances and the investigation of dark energy. DESI utilizes 5000 optical fibers to simultaneously measure the spectra of distant objects and aims to measure 40 million galaxies and quasars in a 5 yr survey. One of the critical challenges to DESI’s success was ensuring that the fiber system was not only highly efficient but also delivered a highly stable beam enabling more reliable sky subtraction for measurements of faint objects. We achieved this stability by minimizing the stress on the fiber system during the manufacture and operation of the telescope and fiber positioning robots. We installed the DESI fiber system on the 4 m Mayall telescope with ≥99% of fibers intact, and the instrument has delivered superb optical performance throughout the initial years of the DESI survey, including ≥90% average throughput when injected with a focal ratio of ∼ f /3.9 as delivered by the primary focus corrector, excluding fiber absorption losses. The design of DESI required multiple innovations to achieve these requirements, such as cleaved fibers bonded with a UV-curing epoxy to glass ferrules in the focal plane and fusion splicing instead of physical connectors. In this paper, we describe the development, delivery, and installation of the fiber system, the innovations that made the state-of-the-art performance possible, and the key lessons learned that could benefit future projects.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Published
2024-11-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad76a4
Citations
44
Primary Topic
Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
22.28

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Overview of the Fiber System for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

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Overview of the Fiber System for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

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article en
44 citations

Abstract

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a revolutionary instrument designed for precise measurements of cosmic distances and the investigation of dark energy. DESI utilizes 5000 optical fibers to simultaneously measure the spectra of distant objects and aims to measure 40 million galaxies and quasars in a 5 yr survey. One of the critical challenges to DESI’s success was ensuring that the fiber system was not only highly efficient but also delivered a highly stable beam enabling more reliable sky subtraction for measurements of faint objects. We achieved this stability by minimizing the stress on the fiber system during the manufacture and operation of the telescope and fiber positioning robots. We installed the DESI fiber system on the 4 m Mayall telescope with ≥99% of fibers intact, and the instrument has delivered superb optical performance throughout the initial years of the DESI survey, including ≥90% average throughput when injected with a focal ratio of ∼ f /3.9 as delivered by the primary focus corrector, excluding fiber absorption losses. The design of DESI required multiple innovations to achieve these requirements, such as cleaved fibers bonded with a UV-curing epoxy to glass ferrules in the focal plane and fusion splicing instead of physical connectors. In this paper, we describe the development, delivery, and installation of the fiber system, the innovations that made the state-of-the-art performance possible, and the key lessons learned that could benefit future projects.

The Astronomical JournalVol. 168(6)
Boston University (US), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES), University of Wyoming (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), University of Waterloo (CA), Universidad de Los Andes (CO), University of Sussex (GB), Perimeter Institute (CA), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Institute for High Energy Physics (ES), Kansas State University (US), Durham University (GB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Princeton University (US), University of California, Irvine (US), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Michigan (US), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US), Sejong University (KR), Yale University (US), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (FR), Ohio University (US), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (FR), NSF NOIRLab (US), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES), Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (MX), National Astronomical Observatories (CN), Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (FR), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES), University College London (GB), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), The Ohio State University (US), University of Rochester (US), University of Portsmouth (GB), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Siena College (US), University of California, Berkeley (US)
National Science Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
22.28
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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