Incoherent Receivers

Large sub-millimeter direct detection mapping projects like the AtlasGal survey can only be performed with a good telescope at an excellent side and a large, sensitive camera working close to the background noise. The APEX telescope with its current instrumentation offers already the capability for such large surveys.

LABOCA is the first facility direct detection camera developed for the APEX telescope. It was installed in late 2006 and commissioned in 2007. As the receiver workhorse for APEX, a large variety of science cases has been successfully addressed with LABOCA.

SABOCA, the Sub-millimeter APEX Bolometer Camera, is a bolometric continuum receiver for operation in the 350 μm atmospheric window. The receiver is based on an array of 39 superconducting bolometers with SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) amplification and multiplexing.