Compact optical fiber positioners for the most important telescopes in the world
Over the years, MPS Microsystems has now become an essential partner in developing and manufacturing optical fiber positioners to be installed by hundreds - or even thousands - in astronomical telescopes.
In-depth study of the universe leads to the development of new facilities for large-scale collection of light emitted by galaxies. MPS Microsystems has worked closely with observatories around the world, as well as with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, to develop its own optical fiber positioner. This standard equipment, comprising two parallel rotating shafts each driven by 2 micromotors, is easily adapted to the specific needs of each experiment. The extreme positioning accuracy is achieved by reducing the number of components, clever arrangement of the bearings and careful resumption of play in the mechanisms. It is possible to change certain dimensional parameters of this positioner easily, without having to change its initial design.
Based on proven experience with the realisation of past successful projects MPS has designed and characterised a scalable Theta/Phi fiber positioner for Multi-Object Spectrographs.
DESI miniature optical fiber positioner – Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument – organised by Berkeley University in California (USA)
Miniature optical fiber positioner for VLT – Very Large Telescope
SDSS-V is an all-sky, multi-epoch spectroscopic survey that will yield over 6 million objects during its five-year observing-time. Using SDSS’s existing and anticipated new facilities at Apache Point Observatory (New Mexico) and Las Campanas Observatory (Chile) SDSS-V will survey the entire sky using rapid and repeated observations, mapping Local Volume galaxies and black holes.