Scientific equipment for the Sun-Terahertz space experiment: study of the temperature effect in the Golay cell

The article gives a brief description of the Sun-Terahertz space experiment scheduled for 2024–2025 aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station. This experiment is aimed at studying the Sun within the previously unexplored terahertz range, obtaining data on terahertz solar radiation, as well as studying solar active regions and solar flares. The authors consider scientific equipment being developed for the Sun-Terahertz experiment, which comprises eight detection channels that are sensitive to radiation of different frequencies within the range of 0.4–12.0 THz. Each channel includes an optical telescope, a system of series filters, an optical chopper, and a radiation receiver with an opto-acoustic detector—Golay cell. The change in the sensitivity of Golay cells with a change in their intrinsic temperature (temperature effect) was studied. By means of auxiliary equipment—a test bench comprising a single-channel mockup and a blackbody simulator—the linear section of the temperature dependence of Golay cells was determined. A procedure was developed to compensate for the temperature effect in Golay cells, and the results of piloting the procedure on the test bench were presented. The proposed procedure can be useful in the development of scientific equipment comprising Golay cells, which is expected to be used under ambient temperature fluctuations.