Preliminary results of the Potsdam Arrayed Waveguide Spectrograph

Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) have gained attention as promising integrated spectrographs for ground-based telescopes, airborne applications, and spaceborne instrumentation due to their low mass, diffraction limit characteristics, thermal stability, and robustness against vibrations and misalignment. The Potsdam Arrayed Waveguide Spectrograph (PAWS) is a cross-dispersive instrument based on an integrated photonic spectrograph (IPS) that is optimized for the astronomical H-Band and was designed and developed by innoFSPEC at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP). The main element is a second-generation AWG that is fibre coupled and works as a first dispersive element. To work as an IPS, the dispersed light of the AWG is sampled at the output facet and magnified by a microscope objective. The light is then fed into a free-space optical system housed in a cryostat working at 140 K. An afocal relay re-images the exit pupil of the microscope into the plane of a cross-dispersive element containing a diffractive grating. Subsequently, an objective focuses the resulting echellogram on a Teledyne 2k × 2k H2RG near-infrared array working at 80 K. To validate the functionality of the system, different light sources have been used. A tunable laser source generated an echellogram through frame stacking. Furthermore, the cross-dispersed output of a supercontinuum source and of an in-house developed frequency comb system were recorded under varying input conditions of the AWG, successfully achieving first light laboratory measurements. Throughout multiple cycles and measurements of the instrument, several parameters and characteristics were identified, providing opportunities for optimization to enhance the instrument’s performance and facilitate the miniaturization of future iterations. In this manuscript, we will provide a concise overview of the PAWS instrument, the preliminary results of laboratory measurements, and lessons learned to improve the future iterations of the next generation near-infrared cross-dispersed integrated photonic spectrograph. PAWS represents a pioneering demonstration of an astronomy optimized AWG chip, showcasing the advantageous capabilities of integrated photonic spectrograph.