Characterizing Photonic Ring Resonator Filters for OH Suppressed Near-infrared Astronomy
Volume 54 number 1 (2026)
- Amy Hermann
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205; amynhermann@gmail.com
- James Lasker
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
- R. Vaisakh
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
- Robert Kehoe
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
- Ryan Staten
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
- Alex Wallace
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
- Simon Ellis
- Australian Astronomical Observatory, North Ryde, New South Wales 2113, Australia
- Kyler Kuehn
- Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
- Steve Kuhlmann
- Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439
Abstract
Supernova cosmology relies on accurate measurement of the absolute magnitudes of Type Ia supernovae. Observation in the visible incurs significant systematic uncertainties in these measurements due to their high degree of interstellar dust extinction. Observing in the near-infrared (750-2500 nm) mitigates this issue by decreasing attenuation, decreasing dispersion, and increasing supernova observation distances. However, ground-based observations in the near-infrared suffer from sky background caused by atmospheric OH emission lines. Advancements in photonic ring resonator filter devices make it feasible to suppress these lines. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a prototype photonic ring resonator device developed for use in the lower H-band (1480–1620 nm). Specifically, we characterize the progression of suppressed wavelengths into the upper H-band (1620–1800 nm) enabling the suppression of emission lines over a broader wavelength range.