Wide Bandwidth Considerations for ALMA Band 2

Understand

One of the main considerations in the ALMA Development Roadmap for the future of operations beyond 2030 is to at least double its on-sky instantaneous bandwidth capabilities.

• Thanks to the technological innovations of the past two decades, we can now produce wider bandwidth receivers than were foreseen at the time of the original ALMA specifications.
• In several cases, the band edges set by technology at that time are also no longer relevant.
• In this memo, we look into the scientific advantages of beginning with Band 2 when implementing such wideband technologies.