Design and Characterization of the ALMA Band 5 Vacuum Window

This paper summarizes the electromagnetic design process of the vacuum window for the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) Band 5 (163-211 GHz). We have carried out investigations by means of numerical simulations as well as reflection and transmission measurements. Simulations were performed using the finite element method, an efficient quasi-analytical technique, and rigorous coupled-wave analysis. We used an injection-molded vacuum window prototype as a starting point of the design process and investigated deterioration in the electromagnetic performance caused by different types of manufacturing artifacts. Following these analyses, an optimization of the window has been performed based on simulations. We measured the reflectivity and transmittance of the newly designed window and this paper demonstrates that the optimized window exhibits a return loss better than -20 dB, as required by the ALMA specifications.