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Dr Sam Rowe
(he/him)
PhD
- Welsh speaking
Teams and roles for Sam Rowe
Research Associate
Overview
I develop ultra-sensitive detector systems for observations in the millimetre and submillimetre range of the electromagnetic spectrum. My main focus has been on the electronic readout and characterisation of increasingly large arrays of superconducting kinetic inductance detectors.
Recently, I have enjoyed collaborating with researchers from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica in Mexico to build MUSCAT, a 1500 pixel receiver soon to be installed at the 50m Large Millimetre Telescope Alfonso Serrano for observations of the local and extragalactic 1.1mm continuum.
I continue to support Sequestim Ltd., a spinout company that was formed to commercialise the terahertz imaging technology developed by myself and others within the instrumentation group.
Publication
2026
- Savorgnano, S. et al., 2026. Noise characterization of line intensity mapping observations with SuMAC at the LMT [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 166. (10.1117/12.3104039)
- Becerril-Tapia, M. et al. 2026. SuMaC: on-sky demonstration of multipixel on-chip millimeter-wave spectroscopy at the Large Millimeter Telescope. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2026 Copenhagen, Denmark 5-11 July 2026. Published in: Zmuidzinas, J. and Gao, J. eds. Proceedings Volume 14156: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Vol. 14156.[SuMaC: on-sky demonstration of multipixel on-chip millimeter-wave spectroscopy at the Large Millimeter Telescope]. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers. , pp.1415607. (10.1117/12.3105526)
- Kane, E. et al., 2026. Characterization of filterbank performance for the SuMAC millimeter-wave spectrometer. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Copenhagen, Denmark 5-10 July 2026. Vol. 14156.[Characterization of filterbank performance for the SuMAC millimeter-wave spectrometer]. SPIE. , pp.175. (10.1117/12.3105816)
- Brien, T. L. R. et al. 2026. Array-scale performance of polarisation-sensitive kinetic inductance detectors for sub-95 GHz applications [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 (10.1117/12.3105119)
- Redford, J. et al., 2026. Noise and sensitivity analysis of SuMaC on-sky and in lab [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 (10.1117/12.3105686)
- Becerril-Tapia, M. et al. 2026. Mapping large CMB-KID arrays through LED scanner [Poster]. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026 Copenhagen, Denmark 5-10 July 2026. Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Vol. 14156.[Mapping large CMB-KID arrays through LED scanner]. SPIE. , pp.92. (10.1117/12.3105449)
- Abril-Cabezas, I. et al., 2026. The Simons Observatory: forecasted constraints on primordial gravitational waves with the expanded array of Small Aperture Telescopes. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2026 (04) 051. (10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/051)
2025
- Abitbol, M. et al., 2025. The Simons Observatory: science goals and forecasts for the enhanced Large Aperture Telescope. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2025 (8) 34. (10.1088/1475-7516/2025/08/034)
- The Simons Observatory Collaboration, et al., 2025. The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts for the enhanced large aperture telescope. arXiv (10.48550/arXiv.2503.00636)
2020
- Brien, T. et al. 2020. Pre-deployment verification and predicted mapping speed of MUSCAT. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.1145303. (10.1117/12.2561305)
- Gómez-Rivera, V. et al., 2020. Design and characterization of the MUSCAT detectors. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.114531Q. (10.1117/12.2576334)
- Tapia, M. et al., 2020. MUSCAT focal plane verification. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X;. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.1145309. (10.1117/12.2576219)
2018
- Castillo, E. et al. 2018. Mexico-UK sub-millimeter camera for astronomy. Journal of Low Temperature Physics 193 (5-6), pp.1010-1015. (10.1007/s10909-018-2018-9)
- Brien, T. et al. 2018. MUSCAT: The Mexico-UK Sub-Millimetre Camera for AsTronomy. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018 Austin, TX, USA 10-15 June 2018. Published in: Zmuidzinas, J. and Gao, J. eds. Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IX. Vol. 10708.SPIE(10.1117/12.2313697)
2017
- Gordon, S. et al., 2017. An open source, FPGA-based LeKID readout for BLAST-TNG: Pre-flight results. Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation 05 (04), pp.1641003. (10.1142/S2251171716410038)
2016
- Rowe, S. et al. 2016. A passive terahertz video camera based on lumped element kinetic inductance detectors. Review of Scientific Instruments 87 (3) 033105. (10.1063/1.4941661)
2015
- Rowe, S. 2015. Passive terahertz imaging with lumped element kinetic inductance detectors. PhD Thesis , Cardiff University.
2014
- Mauskopf, P. D. et al. 2014. Photon-noise limited performance in aluminum LEKIDs. Journal of Low Temperature Physics 176 (3-4), pp.545-552. (10.1007/s10909-013-1069-1)
Articles
- Savorgnano, S. et al., 2026. Noise characterization of line intensity mapping observations with SuMAC at the LMT [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 166. (10.1117/12.3104039)
- Brien, T. L. R. et al. 2026. Array-scale performance of polarisation-sensitive kinetic inductance detectors for sub-95 GHz applications [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 (10.1117/12.3105119)
- Redford, J. et al., 2026. Noise and sensitivity analysis of SuMaC on-sky and in lab [Poster]. Proceedings of SPIE 14156 (10.1117/12.3105686)
- Abril-Cabezas, I. et al., 2026. The Simons Observatory: forecasted constraints on primordial gravitational waves with the expanded array of Small Aperture Telescopes. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2026 (04) 051. (10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/051)
- Abitbol, M. et al., 2025. The Simons Observatory: science goals and forecasts for the enhanced Large Aperture Telescope. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2025 (8) 34. (10.1088/1475-7516/2025/08/034)
- The Simons Observatory Collaboration, et al., 2025. The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts for the enhanced large aperture telescope. arXiv (10.48550/arXiv.2503.00636)
- Castillo, E. et al. 2018. Mexico-UK sub-millimeter camera for astronomy. Journal of Low Temperature Physics 193 (5-6), pp.1010-1015. (10.1007/s10909-018-2018-9)
- Gordon, S. et al., 2017. An open source, FPGA-based LeKID readout for BLAST-TNG: Pre-flight results. Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation 05 (04), pp.1641003. (10.1142/S2251171716410038)
- Rowe, S. et al. 2016. A passive terahertz video camera based on lumped element kinetic inductance detectors. Review of Scientific Instruments 87 (3) 033105. (10.1063/1.4941661)
- Mauskopf, P. D. et al. 2014. Photon-noise limited performance in aluminum LEKIDs. Journal of Low Temperature Physics 176 (3-4), pp.545-552. (10.1007/s10909-013-1069-1)
Conferences
- Becerril-Tapia, M. et al. 2026. SuMaC: on-sky demonstration of multipixel on-chip millimeter-wave spectroscopy at the Large Millimeter Telescope. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2026 Copenhagen, Denmark 5-11 July 2026. Published in: Zmuidzinas, J. and Gao, J. eds. Proceedings Volume 14156: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Vol. 14156.[SuMaC: on-sky demonstration of multipixel on-chip millimeter-wave spectroscopy at the Large Millimeter Telescope]. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers. , pp.1415607. (10.1117/12.3105526)
- Kane, E. et al., 2026. Characterization of filterbank performance for the SuMAC millimeter-wave spectrometer. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Copenhagen, Denmark 5-10 July 2026. Vol. 14156.[Characterization of filterbank performance for the SuMAC millimeter-wave spectrometer]. SPIE. , pp.175. (10.1117/12.3105816)
- Becerril-Tapia, M. et al. 2026. Mapping large CMB-KID arrays through LED scanner [Poster]. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026 Copenhagen, Denmark 5-10 July 2026. Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Vol. 14156.[Mapping large CMB-KID arrays through LED scanner]. SPIE. , pp.92. (10.1117/12.3105449)
- Brien, T. et al. 2020. Pre-deployment verification and predicted mapping speed of MUSCAT. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.1145303. (10.1117/12.2561305)
- Gómez-Rivera, V. et al., 2020. Design and characterization of the MUSCAT detectors. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.114531Q. (10.1117/12.2576334)
- Tapia, M. et al., 2020. MUSCAT focal plane verification. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020 Virtual 14-18 December 2020. Proceedings Volume 11453, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy X;. Vol. 11453.SPIE. , pp.1145309. (10.1117/12.2576219)
- Brien, T. et al. 2018. MUSCAT: The Mexico-UK Sub-Millimetre Camera for AsTronomy. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018 Austin, TX, USA 10-15 June 2018. Published in: Zmuidzinas, J. and Gao, J. eds. Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IX. Vol. 10708.SPIE(10.1117/12.2313697)
Thesis
- Rowe, S. 2015. Passive terahertz imaging with lumped element kinetic inductance detectors. PhD Thesis , Cardiff University.
Biography
| 2015 - Present: | Research Associate, School of Physics and Astronomy. |
| 2011 - 2015: | PhD, Submillimetre Instrumentation, Cardiff University. |
| 2010 - 2011: | Research Assistant, QMC Instruments Ltd. |
| 2005 - 2010: | MPhys (Hons) Astrophysics, Cardiff University. |
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29225 10047
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room N/-0.44 , 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
+44 29225 10047
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room N/-0.44 , 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA