AAIR

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Phase 2 will take advantage of Advanced Technologies based on densely packed phased array systems for observing directly the sky, or for use as the receiver system at the focus of large collectors. These systems will provide extremely large fields of view for unprecedented mapping speeds, thus making it possible to make large all-sky surveys which will be used to understand fundamental problems in physics, including the nature of Dark Energy and the process of formation of the first stars in the Universe. The development of these phased array systems as a viable technology for SKA depend not only on their performance, but on their affordability. Recent advances in integrated circuits have made it possible to demonstrate the feasibility of densely packed phased arrays, in particular with the EMBRACE system currently operational at Nançay and at Westerbork in the Netherlands. The current proposal is concerned with further integration of components in an analog integrated circuit, ultimately combining a filter with Low Noise Amplifier in a single chip, and Analog to Digital Converters with Serialiser in a single chip. This will represent an enormous savings in manufacturing cost and operating cost with reduced power consumption compared to discrete components. The technology also has a large number of applications outside radio astronomy, and novel techniques developed during the course of this study may be submitted for patent.