Paper 14145-272
Paper 14145-272
TRL-5 cryogenic test campaign for the SAFARI scanning mirror mechanism design adopted for the phase delay mechanism of the PRIMA FIRESS instrument
9 July 2026 • 17:30 - 19:00 CEST | Room B4-M3
Abstract
We describe the Engineering Development Unit (EDU) of a novel cryogenic scanning mirror mechanism designed and built by ABB Inc. for SPICA and adopted for the Phase Delay Mechanism (PDM) of the Far-InfraRed Enhanced Survey Spectrometer (FIRESS) instrument on PRIMA. We report on TRL-5 demonstration results from the cryogenic EDU test campaign conducted by Blue Sky Spectroscopy Inc. (BSS) at the University of Lethbridge, verifying the compliance to the challenging SPICA and PRIMA requirements at 4 K (linear stroke, position and velocity stability, low heat dissipation, low magnetic emission, ultra-low photon leakage). The EDU was also integrated into a cryogenic far-infrared post-dispersed polarizing Fourier transform spectrometer designed and built by BSS and successfully tested at the University of Lethbridge to validate the scanning mechanism design.
Presenter
Alain Cournoyer
ABB Analytical Measurement (Canada)
Alain Cournoyer, P. Eng., M.A.Sc. received his B. Ing. degree in 1990 and his M.Sc.A. degree in 1992 in engineering physics from École Polytechnique de Montréal (Canada). From 2000 to 2014, he has been involved in laser micromachining and laser processing R&D activities at INO (Québec, Canada) as a senior research scientist and Laser Systems group manager. Now working as senior system engineer, Space and Defence Systems, at ABB Inc. – Measurement and Analytics Division (Québec, Canada) since 2014, he contributed to the development of an innovative FTS technology for chemical warfare agent detection and to the final design of two NFIRAOS subsystems for the Thirty Meter Telescope. He has served as the technical lead and system engineer for the development of the cryogenic FTS scanning mechanism for the SPICA SAFARI instrument from 2015 to 2024. He currently contributes to the PRIMA Concept Study (Phase A) through the design of the cryogenic phase delay mechanism for FIRESS instrument.