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We characterize a prototype array of laser-micromachined feedhorns designed for operation in the band 80–160 GHz. We compare the optical performance of these horns at room-temperature to horns produced using the traditional DRIE process, and contrast both against simulation. Furthermore, we explore additional potential advantages to laser-micromachining, e.g. sidewall control and thicker wafers. Finally, we share fabrication experience and discuss the outlook for high-throughput feedhorn production using laser-machined wafers.
The Simons Observatory: in-lab optical testing and validation for the first small aperture telescope
AliCPT-1 is the first CMB degree scale polarimeter to be deployed to the Tibetan plateau at 5,250m asl. AliCPT-1 is a 95/150GHz 72cm aperture, two lens refracting telescope cooled down to 4K. Alumina lenses image the CMB on a 636mm wide focal plane. The modularized focal plane consists of dichroic polarization-sensitive Transition-Edge Sensors (TESes). Each module includes 1,704 optically active TESes fabricated on a 6in Silicon wafer. Each TES array is read out with a microwave multiplexing with a multiplexing factor up to 2,000. Such large factor has allowed to consider 10's of thousands of detectors in a practical way, enabling to design a receiver that can operate up to 19 TES arrays for a total of 32,300 TESes. AliCPT-1 leverages the technological advancements of AdvACT and BICEP-3. The cryostat receiver is currently under integration and testing. Here we present the AliCPT-1 receiver, underlying how the optimized design meets the experimental requirements.
Comparing complex impedance and bias step measurements of Simons Observatory transition edge sensors
BLAST-TNG features three detector arrays operating at wavelengths of 250, 350, and 500 m (1200, 857, and 600 GHz) comprised of 918, 469, and 272 dual-polarization pixels, respectively. Each pixel is made up of two crossed microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs). These arrays are cooled to 275 mK in a cryogenic receiver. Each MKID has a different resonant frequency, allowing hundreds of resonators to be read out on a single transmission line. This inherent ability to be frequency-domain multiplexed simplifies the cryogenic readout hardware, but requires careful optical testing to map out the physical location of each resonator on the focal plane. Receiver-level optical testing was carried out using both a cryogenic source mounted to a movable xy-stage with a shutter, and a beam-filling, heated blackbody source able to provide a 10-50 C temperature chop. The focal plane array noise properties, responsivity, polarization efficiency, instrumental polarization were measured. We present the preflight characterization of the BLAST-TNG cryogenic system and array-level optical testing of the MKID detector arrays in the flight receiver.
Design and characterization of the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) 93 GHz focal plane
Variable-delay polarization modulators (VPMs) are used in the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) telescopes as the first element in the optical chain to rapidly modulate the incoming polarization. VPMs consist of a linearly polarizing wire grid in front of a movable flat mirror. Varying the distance between the grid and the mirror produces a changing phase shift between polarization states parallel and perpendicular to the grid which modulates Stokes U (linear polarization at 45°) and Stokes V (circular polarization). The CLASS telescopes have VPMs as the first optical element from the sky; this simultaneously allows a lock-in style polarization measurement and the separation of sky polarization from any instrumental polarization further along in the optical path.
The CLASS VPM wire grids use 50 μm copper-plated tungsten wire with a 160μm spacing across a 60 cm clear aperture. The mirror is mounted on a flexure system with one degree of translational freedom, enabling the required mirror motion while maintaining excellent parallelism with respect to the wire grid. The wire grids and mirrors are held parallel to each other to better than 80 μm, and the wire grids have RMS flatness errors below 50 μm across the 60 cm aperture. The Q-band CLASS VPM was the first VPM to begin observing the CMB full time, starting in the Spring of 2016. The first W-band CLASS VPM was installed in the Spring of 2018.
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