A well-equipped radio astronomy instrumentation laboratory forms the core of the IPRA. This 800 sq. ft. facility, located in the Astronomy Department, contains with a clean micro-assembly room, general-purpose ESD-protected electronic work benches, and several computer workstations. The micro-assembly room contains a stereo zoom microscope, soldering stations, cleaning equipment within a chemical fume hood, small hand tools, and other items necessary for the specialized assembly of small-scale electronic components. The electronic test equipment available in the Laboratory includes a 6 GHz vector network analyzer, a 1 GHz sampling oscilloscope, general purpose oscilloscopes, power meters, frequency counters, spectrum analyzers, various signal generators, noise figure meters, a curve tracer, and a logic analyzer. A small anechoic chamber for antenna impedance measurements and a 77 K closed-cycle cryogenic refrigerator are also located within the lab. Computer workstations include a Linux-based data acquisition system and two high-end pc's running state-of-the-art CAD software such as Agilent's ADS, CST's Microwave Studio, Matlab, and AIPS++. An FPGA logic programmer is also available. In the near future, we anticipate acquiring 15 K and 4 K closed-cycle cryogenic refrigerators, general-purpose cryogenic test dewars, a wire bonder, and an on-wafer RF probing station.


 
Personnel

Current faculty and scientists involved in instrumentation include:

• Adjunct Professor Richard Bradley
• Adjunct Professor J. Richard Fisher

Current graduate students working on instrumentation :

• Alok Singal

• Howard Powell