SPTpol: An instrument for CMB polarization

J. J. McMahon, K. A. Aird, B. A. Benson, L. E. Bleem, J. Britton, J. E. Carlstrom, C. L. Chang, H. S. Cho, T. Dehaan, T. M. Crawford, A. T. Crites, A. Datesman, M. A. Dobbs, W. Everett, N. W. Halverson, G. P. Holder, W. L. Holzapfel, D. Hmbes, K. D. Irwin, M. JoyR. Keisler, T. M. Lanting, A. T. Lee, E. M. Leitch, A. Loehr, M. Lueker, J. Mehl, S. S. Meyer, J. J. Mohr, T. E. Montroy, M. D. Niemack, C. C. Ngeow, V. Novosad, S. Padin, T. Plagge, C. Pryke, C. Reichardt, J. E. Ruhl, K. K. Schaffer, L. Shaw, E. Shirokoff, H. G. Spieler, B. Stadler, A. A. Stark, Z. Staniszewski, K. Vanderlinde, J. D. Vieira, G. Wang, R. Wilhamson, V. Yefremenko, K. W. Yoon, O. Zhan, A. Zenteno

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

SPTpol will consist of an 850 element polarization sensitive bolometric camera deployed to the South Pole Telescope in late 2011. This camera is optimized for measurement of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background with arcminute resolution. These measurements will be used to constrain neutrino masses and to constrain the amplitude of gravitational waves from inflation. The camera includes two detector architectures that observe in two different frequency bands. At 150 GHz, SPTpol will use 650 feedhorn-coupled TES polarimeters fabricated at NIST. At 90 GHz, it will use 200 absorber-coupled polarimeters developed at Argonne National Lab. The NIST pixels will be coupled to the telescope using a monolithic array of corrugated feeds and the Argonne devices will be coupled with individually machined contoured feeds. The entire focal plane will be readout using a digital frequency-domain multiplexer system. We provide an overview of the project, describe the detectors and discuss the design of this system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationLow Temperature Detectors LTD-13 - Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop
Pages511-514
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes
Event13th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors, LTD-13 - Stanford, CA, United States
Duration: Jul 20 2009Jul 24 2009

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1185
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Other

Other13th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors, LTD-13
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityStanford, CA
Period7/20/097/24/09

Keywords

  • Bolometers
  • Cosmic microwave background
  • Cosmology
  • Polarimetry
  • Transition-edge sensors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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