About Advanced Technology Center

Advances in astronomy are realized through state-of-the-art instrumentation. Many advanced NAOJ projects require the development of the latest technologies that are not readily available elsewhere. Basic development of key technologies is also critically important for our future. The Advanced Technology Center (ATC) provides a platform to meet the current and future technology needs in astronomy. ATC owns world-class equipment such as high-quality clean rooms for the SIS mixer for ALMA and large spaceborne instruments, space chambers, optical methodology instruments, ion-beam sputtering machines for thin-film coating, and precision machinery.

So far ATC has developed and manufactured the Subaru Telescope ultra-wide field of view prime-focus camera Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), receivers for ALMA, vibration isolators and optical components for the Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope KAGRA, and so on. In the future, ATC will also work on basic technology development essential for next-generation observational instruments, focusing on next-generation instruments for the Subaru Telescope and ALMA; focal plane instruments for TMT; and the JASMINE (Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration) and next generation solar observing satellite SOLAR-C missions. We are also strengthening our activities by establishing the Social Implementation Program to repurpose technologies developed for astronomical instruments to society.