A Dual-Channel Approach:
1) An imaging channel used for viewing the telescope field and creating a slit mask to observe the selected targets
2) A spectroscopy channel consisting of a traditional R~1000 spectrograph
Traditional multi-object spectrographs rely on technologies like fiber-positioning robots, robotic pick-off arms, or laser-cut slit masks. These technologies are cumbersome, require great effort to calibrate and test, and often necessitate periodic maintenance. DMD-MOS avoids these pitfalls by using a DMD located at the telescope focus to serve as an instantly programmable slit mask.

1) An imaging channel used for viewing the telescope field and creating a slit mask to observe the selected targets
2) A spectroscopy channel consisting of a traditional R~1000 spectrograph

The imaging channel consists of a simple collimator/camera relay to image the DMD
surface which is conjugate with the telescope's focus. By using an astrometric solver
along with a mapping between the imaging channel and DMD array, we are able to create
accurate slit masks for selected science targets and additionally monitor the telescope
field for any significant guiding drifts. The spectral channel consists of a volume
phase holographic (VPH) grism-based spectrograph covering a range of 400-700 nm. The
slit mask created using the imaging channel sends light into this channel to produce
the spectra required for scientific observations. This channel also features a
calibration subsystem for obtaining spectral flats and arc lamp frames that are used
to calibrate and process the data obtained with DMD-MOS.
Both channels utilize a custom collimator/camera relay to image the DMD slit mask.
In the spectral channel, the collimated beam is incident on the VPH grating before
it is imaged through the camera lens on to the GSENSE 2020-BSI scientific CMOS sensor
housed within a TEC-cooled Ximea xiJ camera.
PI, Optical Engineer Co-PI, Independent Contractor Co-PI, Systems Engineer Professor Director Graduate Researcher Graduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate Researcher Please contact our team for further information.
Optical Layout
Our team
Dr. Shaojie Chen
Dunlap Institute for
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Dr. Sarik Jeram
Former Dunlap Fellow
Mark Barnet
Dunlap Institute for
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Prof. Ting Li
David A. Dunlap Department of
Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of Toronto
Prof. Suresh Sivanandam
Dunlap Institute for
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Aditya Khandelwal
Steward Observatory
University of Arizona
Jiayi Emma Xu
Department of Physics
University of Toronto
Zain Azam
Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
Chris Cheng
University of Toronto
Daksh Singh
University of Toronto
Coby Silayan
University of Toronto
Frank Ziang Chen
University of Toronto
Sarah He
University of Toronto
Laly Boyer
Université Grenoble Alpes
Dhruv Pandya
Division of Engineering Science
University of TorontoInterested in learning more?