Interstellar Magnetic Field Studies and Requisite Detector Properties

Magnetic fields play important roles in cloud, cluster, and star formation. Yet magnetic fields are exceedingly difficult to detect and trace. The current best method involves measuring far-infrared linear polarization of aligned, spinning, thermal dust grains. SOFIA instruments and Small Explorer (SMEX) missions have been proposed that would routinely measure interstellar magnetic fields. But, these instruments and missions require far-infrared array detectors with superb sensitivity, noise immunity, photometric accuracy, and electron well-depths. Current photoconductor arrays meet some of these requirements, but not all. Based on models of SMEX and SOFIA instruments designed to efficiently map interstellar magnetic fields, required detector array properties can be developed quantitatively. Future farinfrared detector arrays must meet these requirements to enable opening up the study of magnetic fields in space.