The SPIRou wavelength calibration for precise radial velocities in the near infrared

Aims. SPIRou is a near-infrared (nIR) spectropolarimeter at the CFHT, covering the YJHK nIR spectral bands (980 - 2350 nm). We describe the development and current status of the SPIRou wavelength calibration in order to obtain precise radial velocities (RVs) in the nIR. Methods. We make use of a UNe hollow-cathode lamp and a Fabry-Perot etalon to calibrate the pixel-wavelength correspondence for SPIRou. Di fferent methods are developed for identifying the hollow-cathode lines, for calibrating the wavelength dependence of the Fabry-Perot cavity width, and for combining the two calibrators. Results. The hollow-cathode spectra alone do not provide a su fficiently accurate wavelength solution to meet the design requirements of an internal error of <0:45ms(-1), for an overall RV precision of 1ms(-1). However, the combination with the Fabry-Perot spectra allows for significant improvements, leading to an internal error of similar to 0:15ms(-1). We examine the inter-night stability, intra-night stability, and impact on the stellar RVs of the wavelength solution.