Title: Process and Metrology in the Production of High Resolution Near-Infrared Spectrographs

Abstract: As new telescopes grow larger to explore more of the undiscovered Universe, high quality instruments are required to make use of the captured light. High resolution near-infrared spectrographs are crucial for many astronomical studies, including measurements of stellar and exoplanet atmospheres. This wavelength range captures interesting emission and absorption lines for many galactic and extragalactic objects. At the University of Texas in Austin, we develop these instruments with silicon immersion gratings that exploit the high index of refraction of silicon to compactly disperse near-infrared light at high resolution. These gratings are developed through an in-house process that takes advantage of the different etch rates between the (100) and (111) planes of silicon to form blazed grooves. Once the grooves of our gratings are constructed, precise characterization of their blaze profile allows our instruments to reach optimal efficiency. These gratings have been featured in many instruments including iSHELL, the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrometer (IGRINS), and, in the future, at the Giant Magellan Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GMTNIRS). My efforts in the characterization of these gratings ensures that when machined, these gratings will be cut with a precision of 0.06o with respect to the blaze angle. Here, I will present these instrumentation efforts and show some resulting spectra and science performed off the grounds of these instruments.