The optical and infrared instrumentation program of IAA is initiated with the development of the Wide Field Infrared Camera (WIRCam), officially started in late 2001. The WIRCam is a collaboration between ASIAA and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope team. The WIRCam is one of the largest working infrared cameras ever built in the world, and it has become one of the major instruments on the CFHT. The WIRCam was deployed on the CFHT in 2006. The large 20’ field of view is achieved by 4 adjoining 2048x2048 HgCdTe detector arrays. This wide field will make possible large-scale near-infrared imaging surveys to revolutionize the science of star formation, galactic structure and evolution, and the large scale structure in the Universe. We are continuing to collaborate on the next CFHT instrument, a spectropolarimeter called SPIROU, delivering the tip-tilt and viewing camera systems, as well as collaborating on the science camera.
