arXiv subjects

Yuji Ikeda

Publications and source records attributed to Yuji Ikeda.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

A Warm Near-Infrared High-Resolution Spectrograph with Very High Throughput (WINERED)

WINERED is a newly built high-efficiency (throughput$ > 25-30\%$) and high-resolution spectrograph customized for short NIR bands at 0.9-1.35 ${\rm μ}$m. WINERED is equipped with ambient temperature optics and a cryogenic camera using a 1.7 ${\rm μ}$m cut-off HgCdTe HAWAII-2RG array detector. WINERED has two grating modes: one with a conventional reflective echelle grating (R$\sim$28,300), which covers 0.9-1.35 $μ$m simultaneously, the other with ZnSe or ZnS immersion grating (R$\sim$100,000). We have completed the development of WINERED except for the immersion grating, and started engineering and science observations at the Nasmyth platform of the 1.3 m Araki Telescope at Koyama Astronomical Observatory of Kyoto-Sangyo University in Japan. We confirmed that the spectral resolution ($R\sim$ 28,300) and the throughput ($>$ 40\% w/o telescope/atmosphere/array QE) meet our specifications. We measured ambient thermal backgrounds (e.g., 0.06 ${\rm [e^{-}/sec/pixel]}$ at 287 K), which are roughly consistent with that we expected. WINERED is a portable instrument that can be installed at any telescope with Nasmyth focus as a PI-type instrument. If WINERED is installed on a 10 meter telescope, the limiting magnitude is expected to be J=18-19, which can provide high-resolution spectra with high quality even for faint distant objects.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

Phonon softening in paramagnetic bcc Fe and relationship with pressure-induced phase transition

Structural stability of paramagnetic (PM) body-centered cubic (bcc) Fe under pressure is investigated based on first-principles phonon calculations. Spin configurations of the PM phase are approximated using a binary special quasi-random structure (SQS) with a supercell approach. The behavior of phonon modes can be associated with pressure-induced phase transitions to the face-centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structures as follows: For the PM phase, it is found that the low-frequency transverse mode at the N point (N$_4^-$ mode), which corresponds to a bcc-hcp phase transition pathway, exhibits strong softening under isotropic volume compression. The frequency of this mode becomes zero by $2\%$ volume decrease within the harmonic approximation. This result is not consistent with the experimental fact that phase transition from the PM bcc to hcp phases does not occur under volume compression. The seeming contradiction can be explained only when anharmonic behavior of the N$_4^-$ mode is taken into consideration; a potential energy curve along the N$_4^-$ mode becomes closer to a double-well shape for the PM phase under the volume compression. On the other hand, softening of the longitudinal mode at the 2/3[111] point under the volume compression is also found for the PM phase, which indicates the pressure-induced bcc-fcc phase transition along this mode. Such behaviors are not seen in ferromagnetic (FM) bcc Fe, implying that the magnetic structure plays essential roles on the phase transition mechanism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Development of a Fine Grating on ZnS for a Wideband Spectral Disperser in Characterizing Exoplanets using Space-borne Telescopes

We present the fabrication and optical testing of a fine grating on a ZnS substrate to be used as a wideband infrared spectral disperser and for which the primary application is measurement of the composition of the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets using space-borne infrared astronomical telescopes. A grating with a blaze angle of 2.1 deg. and pitch of 166.667 midron was constructed on a roughly flat 10 mm x 10 mm substrate with a maximum thickness of 1 mm. To obtain high accuracy, the sample was fabricated on a ZnS monocrystal using a high performance processing machine at Canon Inc. The surface roughness measured with a microscope interferometer was 2.6 nm rms. The shape of the fabricated grating edges was examined with a scanning electron microscope. The diffraction efficiency was evaluated by optical experiments at λ = 633 nm, 980 nm, and 1550 nm, and compared with the efficiencies calculated using a Fourier Modal Method. The results showed that the differences between the diffraction efficiencies obtained from experiment and by calculation were between just 0.9 % and 2.4 %. We concluded that the quality of the fabricated ZnS grating was sufficiently high to provide excellent diffraction efficiency for use in the infrared wavelength region. We also present the design of a spectral disperser in CdTe for future more advanced performance.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

Theoretical Study of Hydrogenated Tetrahedral Aluminum Clusters

We report on the structures of aluminum hydrides derived from a tetrahedral aluminum Al4 cluster using ab initio quantum chemical calculation. Our calculation of binding energies of the aluminum hydrides reveals that stability of these hydrides increases as more hydrogen atoms are adsorbed, while stability of Al-H bonds decreases. We also analyze and discuss the chemical bonds of those clusters by using recently developed method based on the electronic stress tensor.

physics.atm-clus↗

arXiv2007

Near-infrared and Mid-infrared Spectroscopy with the Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI

The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of the two instruments on board the AKARI satellite. In addition to deep imaging from 1.8-26.5um for the pointed observation mode of the AKARI, it has a spectroscopic capability in its spectral range. By replacing the imaging filters by transmission-type dispersers on the filter wheels, it provides low-resolution (lambda/d_lambda ~ 20-120) spectroscopy with slits or in a wide imaging field-of-view (approximately 10'X10'). The IRC spectroscopic mode is unique in space infrared missions in that it has the capability to perform sensitive wide-field spectroscopic surveys in the near- and mid-infrared wavelength ranges. This paper describes specifications of the IRC spectrograph and its in-orbit performance.

astro-ph↗