PhD offer: Front-ends for terahertz heterodyne receivers in CubeSate platforms

Context

CubeSats are a class of miniaturized low-cost and very modular satellites for space research, which number of launches is steadily increasing, with several initiatives in Europe. They fly as a secondary payload and can be used to enhance the science objectives of the primary mission.

One of the main challenges for scientific instruments in CubeSats consist in devising new architectures at the same time compact and with performances similar to those of the primary payload.

Description

This thesis ambitions the development of a novel ultra-compact instrument to study Earth’s radiation budget. The instrument will be sized so it can be accommodated in a CubeSat platform.

This interdisciplinary project involves 3 CNRS laboratories, which wide expertise in antenna design (IETR, Institut d’Electronique et des Technologies du numéRique – UMR 6164), Schottky-based room-temperature receivers (LERMA, Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères – UMR 8112) and nanotechnology (C2N, Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies – UMR 9001) will be exploited to guarantee the success of this project, funded by CNRS’s « Mission pour les initiatives transverses et interdisciplinaires » (MITI) under the 80Prime program.

Contacts