This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 12190, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee Page.

CMB-S4 will map the cosmic microwave background to unprecedented precision, while simultaneously surveying the millimeter-wave time-domain sky, in order to advance our understanding of cosmology and the universe. CMB-S4 will observe from two sites, the South Pole and the Atacama Desert of Chile. A combination of small- and large-aperture telescopes with hundreds of thousands of polarization-sensitive detectors will observe in several frequency bands from 20–300 GHz, surveying more than 50% of the sky to arcminute resolution with unprecedented sensitivity. CMB-S4 seeks to make a dramatic leap in sensitivity while observing across a broad range of largely unprotected spectrum which is increasingly being utilized for terrestrial and satellite transmissions. Fundamental aspects of CMB instrument technology leave them vulnerable to radio frequency interference (RFI) across a wide range of frequencies, including frequencies outside of their observing bands. Ground-based CMB instruments achieve their extraordinary sensitivities by deploying large focal planes of superconducting bolometers to extremely dry, high-altitude sites, with large fractional bandwidths, wide fields of view, and years of integration time. Suitable observing sites have historically offered significant protection from RFI, both naturally through their extremely remote locations as well as through restrictions on local emissions. Since the coupling mechanisms are complex, “safe” levels or frequencies of emission that would not interfere with CMB measurements cannot always be determined through straightforward calculations. We discuss models of interference for various types of RFI relevant to CMB-S4, mitigation strategies, and the potential impacts on survey sensitivity.

We present the design and science goals of SPT-3G+, a new camera for the South Pole Telescope, which will consist of a dense array of 34100 kinetic inductance detectors measuring the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at 220, 285 and 345 GHz. The SPT-3G+ dataset will enable new constraints on the process of reionization, including measurements of the patchy kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and improved constraints on the optical depth due to reionization. At the same time, it will serve as a pathfinder for the detection of Rayleigh scattering, which could allow future CMB surveys to constrain cosmological parameters better than from the primary CMB alone. In addition, the combined, multi-band SPT-3G and SPT-3G+ survey data, will have several synergies that enhance the original SPT-3G survey, including: extending the redshift-reach of SZ cluster surveys to z > 2; understanding the relationship between magnetic fields and star formation in our Galaxy; improved characterization of the impact of dust on inflationary B-mode searches; and characterizing astrophysical transients at the boundary between mm and sub-mm wavelengths. Finally, the modular design of the SPT-3G+ camera allows it to serve as an on-sky demonstrator for new detector technologies employing microwave readout, such as the on-chip spectrometers that we expect to deploy during the SPT-3G+ survey. In this paper, we describe the science goals of the project and the key technology developments that enable its powerful yet compact design.

Mod-Cam is a first light and commissioning instrument for the CCAT-prime project’s six-meter aperture Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), currently under construction at 5600 m on Cerro Chajnantor in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Prime-Cam, a first-generation science instrument for FYST, will deliver over ten times greater mapping speed than current and near-term facilities for unprecedented 280–850 GHz broadband and spectroscopic measurements with microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs). CCAT-prime will address a suite of science goals, from Big Bang cosmology to star formation and galaxy evolution over cosmic time. Mod-Cam deployment on FYST with a 280 GHz instrument module containing MKID arrays is planned for early science observations in 2024. Mod-Cam will be used to test instrument modules for Prime-Cam, which can house up to seven instrument modules. We discuss the design and status of the 0.9 m diameter, 1.8 m long Mod-Cam receiver and 40 cm diameter 280 GHz instrument module, with cold stages at 40 K, 4 K, 1 K, and 100 mK. We also describe the instrument module’s cryogenic readout designs to enable the readout of more than 10,000 MKIDs across 18 networks.

The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) at the Cerro-Chajnantor Atacama Telescope prime (CCATprime) Facility will host Prime-Cam as a powerful, first generation camera with imaging polarimeters working at several wavelengths and spectroscopic instruments aimed at intensity mapping during the Epoch of Reionization. Here we introduce the 850 GHz (350 micron) instrument module. This will be the highest frequency module in Prime-Cam and the most novel for astronomical and cosmological surveys, taking full advantage of the atmospheric transparency at the high 5600 meter CCAT-prime siting on Cerro Chajnantor. The 850 GHz module will deploy ∼40,000 Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) with Silicon platelet feedhorn coupling (both fabricated at NIST), and will provide unprecedented broadband intensity and polarization measurement capabilities. The 850 GHz module will be key to addressing pressing astrophysical questions regarding galaxy formation, Big Bang cosmology, and star formation within our own Galaxy. We present the motivation and overall design for the module, and initial laboratory characterization.

The development of direct absorbing kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) for broadband far-infrared (FIR) observations designed to meet the needs of present and future telescopes is presented. This development was initiated to investigate the potential for upgrading the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus (HAWC+) instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) with KIDs; but also has applications generally for FIR detectors. These detectors consist of backside-illuminated KIDs on a silicon substrate where the hybrid TiN/Al inductor forms a resistive wire grid with broadband absorption. Detectors can be configured to absorb in either one or two polarizations with a pixel filling factor of around 80%. A novel two-layer meta material anti-reflection coating, and a sub-quarter-wavelength backshort allow for greater than 85% detection efficiency over the ultra-wide 1 to 6 THz bandwidth. These detectors require no focal plane focusing optics such as feedhorns or microlenses, do not require fragile membranes, and utilize proven and straightforward fabrication methods. The optical and microwave design of these detectors is presented. Additionally, the performance of test devices is quantified. This includes measurements of the AR coating effectiveness, detector noise equivalent powers, and detector internal quality factors under the relevant loading levels for the HAWC+ instrument. This information is used to assess the potential benefit of upgrading the HAWC+ instrument with these new detectors and to determine the applicability of this technology for other future FIR detectors.

The Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) is a concept for a 50m class single-dish telescope that will provide high sensitivity, fast mapping of the (sub-)millimeter sky. Expected to be powered by renewable energy sources, and to be constructed in the Atacama desert in the 2030s, AtLAST’s suite of up to six stateof-the-art instruments will take advantage of its large field of view and high throughput to deliver efficient continuum and spectroscopic observations of the faint, large-scale emission that eludes current facilities. The AtLAST design study project is currently supported by a Horizon 2020 grant aimed at studying the governance, telescope design, site selection, telescope operations, sustainable energy supply, and science drivers of the future AtLAST observatory. With quantified and specific science goals, we can begin to place technical specifications on the telescope and its instrumentation. As a first step in this process, we conducted a consultation on potential AtLAST science with the global (sub-)millimeter astrophysics community. The consultation involved nearly 100 scientists based in 22 countries, and the resulting 28 use cases indicate the breadth of transformational science that such a high-throughput facility could make possible: from exploring the prebiotic molecular chemistry of comets in our own Solar System, detecting the extended, diffuse cold gas in the circumgalactic medium of both our own and distant galaxies, to detailed measurements of the thermal, kinetic, and relativistic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and mapping of large-scale structure. Already these science cases define some core requirements for AtLAST’s instrumentation: wide bandwidths, multichroic observations, high spectral resolution, fast mapping and a large field of view. Further refinement of these is planned over the course of the current EU-funded project, resulting in detailed case studies of the telescope and instrumentation requirements needed by the community to deliver a next-generation submillimeter observing facility.

The Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared imaging spectrometer designed to characterize the star formation history of the universe. In its Antarctic science flight, TIM will map the redshifted 158um line of ionized carbon over the redshift range 0.5-1.7 (lookback times of 5-10 Gyr). TIM will spectroscopically detect ~100 galaxies, determine the star formation rate history over this time interval through line intensity mapping, and measure the stacked CII emission from galaxies in its well-studied target fields (GOODS-S, SPT Deep Field). TIM consists of a 2-meter telescope feeding two grating spectrometers that that cover 240-420um at R~250 across a 1.3deg field of view, detected with 7200 kinetic inductance detectors and sampled through a novel RF system-on-chip readout. TIM will serve as an important scientific instrument, accessing wavelengths that cannot easily be studied from the ground, and as a testbed for future FIR space technology.

The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) will constrain star formation over cosmic time by carrying out a blind and complete census of redshifted carbon monoxide (CO) and ionized carbon ([CII]) emission in cross-correlation with galaxy survey data in redshift windows from the present to z=3.5 with a fully cryogenic, balloon-borne telescope. EXCLAIM will carry out extragalactic and Galactic surveys in a conventional balloon flight planned for 2023. EXCLAIM will be the first instrument to deploy µ-Spec silicon integrated spectrometers with a spectral resolving power R=512 covering 420-540 GHz. We summarize the design, science goals, and status of EXCLAIM.

The BISOU (Balloon Interferometer for Spectral Observations of the Universe) project studies the viability and prospects of a balloon-borne spectrometer, pathfinder of a future space mission dedicated to the measurements of the CMB spectral distortions, while consolidating the instrumental concept and improving the readiness of some of its key sub-systems. A balloon concept based on a Fourier Transform Spectrometer, covering a spectral range from about 90 GHz to 2 THz, adapted from previous mission proposals such as PIXIE and FOSSIL, is being studied and modelled. Taking into account the requirements and conditions of balloon flights (i.e. residual atmosphere, observation strategy for instance), we present here the instrument concept together with the results of the CNES phase 0 study, evaluating the sensitivity to some of its potential observables. For instance, we forecast a detection of the CMB Compton y-distortion monopole with a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 5.

We present the conceptual design of the modular detector and readout system for the Cosmic Microwave Background – Stage four (CMB-S4) ground-based survey experiment. CMB-S4 will map the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the millimeter-wave sky to unprecedented sensitivity, using 500,000 superconducting detectors observing from Chile and Antarctica to map over 60% of the sky. The fundamental building block of the detector and readout system is a detector module package operated at 100 mK, which is connected to a readout and amplification chain that carries signals out to room temperature. It uses arrays of feedhorn-coupled orthomode transducers (OMT) that collect optical power from the sky onto dc-voltage-biased transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. The resulting current signal in the TESs is then amplified by a two-stage cryogenic Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) system with a time-division multiplexer to reduce wire count, and matching room-temperature electronics to condition and transmit signals to the data acquisition system. Sensitivity and systematics requirements are being developed for the detector and readout system over wide range of observing bands (20 to 300 GHz) and optical powers to accomplish CMB-S4’s science goals. While the design incorporates the successes of previous generations of CMB instruments, CMB-S4 requires an order of magnitude more detectors than any prior experiment. This requires fabrication of complex superconducting circuits on over 10 m2 of silicon, as well as significant amounts of precision wiring, assembly and cryogenic testing

CMB-S4 – the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment - will significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and improve our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. CMB-S4 will deploy large-aperture telescopes fielding hundreds of thousands of detectors at millimeter wavelengths. We present the baseline optical design concept of the large-aperture CMB-S4 telescopes, which consists of two optical configurations: (i) a new off-axis, three-mirror, free-form anastigmatic design and (ii) the existing coma-corrected crossed-Dragone design. We also present an overview of the optical configuration of the array of silicon optics cameras that will populate the focal plane with 85 diffraction-limited optics tubes covering up to 9 degrees of field of view, up to 1.1 mm in wavelength. We describe the computational optimization methods that were put in place to implement the families of designs described here and give a brief update on the current status of the design effort.

This paper presents recent results of ongoing European Space Agency funded program of work aimed at developing large dielectric lenses suitable for future satellite missions, with a particular focus on requirements for CMB polarimetry. Two lens solutions are being investigated: (i) polymer lenses with broadband multi-layer antireflection coatings; (ii) silicon lenses with surface-structured anti-reflection coating represented by directly machined pyramidal features. For each solution, base materials with and without coatings have been optically characterized over a range of temperatures down to ~10 K. Full lens solutions are under manufacture and will be tested in a bespoke large cryo-optical facility.

Gal/Xgal U/LDB Spectroscopic/ Stratospheric THz Observatory (GUSTO) is a NASA Explorers Mission of Opportunity that will make large scale maps of the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud in three important interstellar lines: [CII], [OI], and [NII] at 158, 63, and 205 µm, respectively. During its ~75 day stratospheric (~36 km) flight, GUSTO’s 0.9-meter balloon-borne telescope and THz heterodyne array receivers will provide the spectral and spatial resolution needed to untangle the complexities of the interstellar medium by probing all phases of its Life Cycle. The GUSTO payload consists of (1) a telescope; (2) three 8-pixel heterodyne array receivers; (3) autocorrelator spectrometers; (4) instrument control electronics; and (5) a cryostat. The GUSTO gondola is derived from successful APL designs. Much of the GUSTO instrument architecture and hardware is based on the experience gained in developing and flying the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO). GUSTO is currently undergoing integration and test and will launch from the NASA Long Duration Balloon (LDB) Facility near McMurdo, Antarctica in December 2023.

Heterodyne receivers combining a NbN HEB mixer with a local oscillator (LO) are the work horse for high resolution ( ≥106 ) spectroscopic observations at supra-terahertz frequencies. We report an MgB2 HEB mixer working at 5.3 THz with 20 K operation temperature based on a previously published paper [Y. Gan et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., 119, 202601 (2021)]. The HEB consists of a 7 nm thick MgB2 submicron-bridge contacted with a spiral antenna. It has a Tc of 38.4 K. By using hot/cold blackbody loads and a Mylar beam splitter all in vacuum, and applying a 5.25 THz FIR gas laser as the LO, we measured a minimal DSB receiver noise temperature of 3960 K. The latter gives a DSB mixer noise temperature of 1470 K. This sensitivity is 28 times better than a room temperature Schottky mixer at 4.7 THz, but about 2.5 times less sensitive than an NbN HEB mixer. The latter must be operated around 4 K. The IF noise bandwidth is about 10 GHz, which is 2.5-3 times larger than an NbN HEB. With further optimization, such MgB2 HEBs are expected to reach a better sensitivity. That the low noise, wide IF bandwidth MgB2 HEB mixers can be operated in a compact, low dissipation 20 K Stirling cooler can significantly reduce the cost and complexity of heterodyne instruments and therefore facilitate new space missions.

The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), which is the telescope of the CCAT-prime project, will be located at 5600 m near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in northern Chile, and will host the modular instrument called Prime-Cam. Two of the instrument modules in Prime-Cam will be a spectrometer with a resolving power of R ∼ 100 and populated with a detector array of several thousand KIDs (Kinetic Inductance Detectors). The main science goal of this spectrometer module, called EoR-Spec, is to probe the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) in the early universe using the Line Intensity Mapping (LIM) technique with the redshifted [CII] fine-structure line. This presentation provides an overview of the optical, mechanical, and spectral design of EoR-Spec, as well as of the detector array that will be used. The optical design consists of four silicon lenses that have anti-reflection metamaterial layers. A scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) will be located at the pupil and provides the spectral resolution over the full spectral coverage of 210 GHz to 420 GHz in two orders, resulting in a redshift coverage of the [CII] line from z = 3.5 to z = 8. The detector array consists of three subarrays of KIDs, two of which are tuned for the frequency range between 210 GHz and 315 GHz, and one that is tuned for the 315 GHz to 420 GHz range. The angular resolution will be between about 30′′ to 50′′. This presentation also addresses the spectral and spatial scanning strategy of EoR-Spec on FYST. EoR-Spec is expected to be installed into Prime-Cam about 1 year after first light of FYST.

Two technologies of all-silicon on-chip spectrometers based on the Fabry-Perot interferometer principle are studied and under development for a target wavelength of 158µm ([CII]). We are developing these spectroscopic capabilities with the objective of including them in polarimetric detector arrays cooled at 50mK. The first solution is a tunable cavity Fabry-Perot with silicon mirrors driven by cryogenic piezoelectric motors with a sub-micron step size. Each mirror is a dielectric Bragg structure made of quarter-wave layers of silicon and air providing a high reflectivity without metal losses. The theoretical performance of a Fabry-Perot resonator with such Bragg mirrors has been confirmed by measurement in a low temperature FTS: the finesse of this interferometer is more than twice that of a traditional Fabry-Perot. The second solution is a fixed Fabry-Perot array with a silicon microstructured cavity, which allows having different optical indices in different areas. The cavity is made of deep-etched silicon microstructures whose section is adapted to obtain the adequate optical index. Therefore, multiple wavelengths around 158µm, distributed on the array, are transmitted by this Fabry-Perot. The mirrors of this spectrometer are metallic capacitive grids designed to be highly reflective at the targeted wavelength, easy to manufacture with reduced metal losses. The simulations show high performances in resolution, close to the Bragg mirrors Fabry-Perot. The first prototypes of this solution have been manufactured by the CEA/LETI and will be soon measured in the cryogenic facilities in Saclay.

LiteBIRD is a JAXA-led strategic large-class satellite mission designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic foregrounds from 34 to 448 GHz across the entire sky from L2 in the late 2020s. The scientific payload includes three telescopes which are called the low-, mid-, and high-frequency telescopes each with their own receiver that covers a portion of the mission’s frequency range. The low frequency telescope will map synchrotron radiation from the Galactic foreground and the cosmic microwave background. We discuss the design, fabrication, and characterization of the low-frequency focal plane modules for low-frequency telescope, which has a total bandwidth ranging from 34 to 161 GHz. There will be a total of 4 different pixel types with 8 overlapping bands to cover the full frequency range. These modules are housed in a single low-frequency focal plane unit which provides thermal isolation, mechanical support, and radiative baffling for the detectors. The module design implements multi-chroic lenslet-coupled sinuous antenna arrays coupled to transition edge sensor bolometers read out with frequency-domain mulitplexing. While this technology has strong heritage in ground-based cosmic microwave background experiments, the broad frequency coverage, low optical loading conditions, and the high cosmic ray background of the space environment require further development of this technology to be suitable for LiteBIRD. In these proceedings, we discuss the optical and bolometeric characterization of a triplexing prototype pixel with bands centered on 78, 100, and 140 GHz.

Far-infrared detectors for future cooled space telescopes require ultra-sensitive detectors with optical noise equivalent powers of order 0.2 aW/√Hz. This performance has already been demonstrated in arrays of transition edge sensors. A critical step is demonstrating a method of fabrication and assembly that maintains the performance but that is extendable to create large-scale arrays suitable, for example, for application in dispersive spectrometers where it may be advantageous to fabricate the array from smaller sub-arrays. Critical here are the methods of assembly and metrology that maintain the required tolerances on the spatial alignment of the components in order to maintain overall performance. These are discussed and demonstrated.

The Atacama large millimeter/submillimeter array (ALMA) band-1 receiver covers the frequency band between 35-50 GHz. An extension of up to 52 GHz is on a best-effort basis. Covering the longest wavelengths visible with ALMA, this receiver is enabling studies of dust grain evolution in proto-planetary systems probing dust grain sizes close to 1 cm, and with multiple red-shifted molecular lines it will open up a new window in the high-redshift universe. The band-1 project has recently achieved first light and with this passed a major project milestone. We present the challenges, from initial development to prototype, to establishing the infrastructure, integration, and evaluation of 73 production receiver units, and to the final tasks to complete the project. We conclude with the initial performance and characterization of the first band-1 receivers installed on ALMA.

The radio instrumentation team (RIT) at NRC’s (National Research Council Canada) Herzberg astronomy and astrophysics research center (HAA) is currently developing a dual-linear polarization, single-feed Q-band cryogenic radio astronomy receiver to develop and demonstrate important technologies needed for front-end development for the next generation very large array (ngVLA) project lead by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The specific target is the ngVLA band-5 receiver, which covers the frequency range 30.5–50.5 GHz. It also serves as a technology demonstrator for component development for ngVLA bands-3, 4, and 6. The Q-band receiver system is designed to achieve a receiver noise temperature of less than 20 K over 70% of the bandwidth and better than 24 K over the complete operating bandwidth, and is compliant with the current ngVLA Band-5 receiver requirement. The receiver system consists of a cryostat with a cooled feed horn, a turnstile OMT (orthomode transducer) plus two noise couplers for calibration, two cryogenic mHEMT low noise amplifiers with noise temperature lower than 14 K, IR filters, and a vacuum window for low-loss transmission of electromagnetic fields into the cryostat.

The Ka-/Q-band in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is important for astrophysical and astrochemical research, particularly in the subfield of interstellar medium (ISM). The two bands cover not only the fundamental lines of the abundant dense gas tracer CS and its isotopologues but also a vast number of transitions of relatively large, long-chain, and/or complex organic species. Here, through a Taiwan-Japan collaboration, an extended Q-band (30-50GHz) receiver is built for Nobeyama 45-m telescope. The receiver front-end was installed at Nobeyama 45-m telescope in Nov. 2021 and obtained its first light in the same month. Commissioning and science verification (CSV) of the receiver was conducted in the first half of 2022. After commissioning, this receiver will be the only one in the world providing capability to cover 3 Zeeman transitions simultaneously at 7mm wavelength installed at large single dish telescope. It will be one of the most powerful facilities to explore the magnetic fields towards the pre-protostellar cores.

Low-energy threshold, high-resolution superconducting detector arrays with 103–105 pixels are increasingly necessary in ground- and space-based telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum including mm-wave, far-infrared (Far-IR), near-infrared, X-ray, and gamma rays. Reading out such large numbers of sensors poses significant technical challenges, but recent cryogenic readout technology developments are enabling the simultaneous read out of significantly more channels with minimal performance impact. An especially promising set of cold readout technologies couple cryogenic sensors to superconducting resonators. These technologies rely on high-frequency RF electronics to interrogate and demodulate the sensors’ signals using digitally generated tones. Recently released Radio Frequency Systems-on-Chip (RFSoC) devices from Xilinx combine a FPGA with high-speed ADCs and DACs onto a single chip. These systems provide significant advantages for these applications, including lower cost, reduced size and weight, lower power consumption, and improved RF performance. While an RFSoC-based warm readout system would be attractive for a broad range of spacecraft applications, Xilinx has not announced plans for a space qualified version of its RFSoC devices and insufficient data is publicly available to evaluate the feasibility of using RFSoC devices in space. To evaluate the suitability of RFSoC devices for spacecraft applications, we have designed and built custom boards using all space-qualified components except for the RFSoC. In this contribution we present the design of our custom RFSoC board, measurements of critical aspects of board performance which relate to operation in the harsh space environment, and measurements of integrated RF performance targeting the readout of large superconducting sensor arrays and space-based radio spectrometry. In addition to a wide range of spacecraft applications including communications and radar, our RFSoC platform is a potentially critically enabling technology for missions prioritized by the recent 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics including flagship Far-IR and X-ray missions, as well as Far-IR, X-ray, and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) probes.

Robust, high sensitivity kilopixel format arrays with large focal plane filling factors and low cosmic ray cross sections that operate over the entire far-IR regime are required for future NASA missions, such as Origins and a future far-IR Probe. Our kilopixel Backshort Under Grid (BUG) detectors are designed to meet all those requirements: By bump-bonding two-dimensional detector arrays to readout multiplexers are gaplessly tileable in one spatial direction with the integration of the multiplexer scalable beyond wafer sizes. The detector arrays provide high filling factors (<90% at 1mm pixel pitch) and are designed for low Cosmic ray cross sections. The major missing technology is a detector array architecture that can be gaplessly tiled to deliver the desired pixel counts of npixel ~10⁵, while being providing a robust process to produce these detector arrays. We introduce a new array architecture that is very flexible allowing for a variety of tileable solutions and describe its individual components and the tests of those. Our results demonstrate that this architecture allows for flexible designs with high yields and reliable superconducting bump-bond connections of detectors and the cold readout SQUID multiplexers directly under the detector array, or on a different board that can be connected with e.g. flex lines for compact tiling.

One of the main goals of the canceled Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), was to reveal the evidence of the influence of magnetic field in the structuration of different astrophysical objects, as for example the filamentary structure of star-forming regions. For this purpose, “instrument-in-pixel” detector arrays were developed under ESA, CNES and FOCUS contracts, to propose sensitive, compact and easy to integrate detection solutions for a Space Observatory. Magnetic field influences the light emission or absorption of small grains and molecules imprinting its characteristics in the received electromagnetic message in terms of polarization, degree, angle and intensity. Each pixel of the developed detectors absorb the radiation through two orthogonal dipole networks. The detector array is organized like a chessboard with every other pixel having absorbers rotated by 45° in order to unveil simultaneously the linear Stokes parameters without any optical loss. A very large absorption efficiency is obtained, as usual since PACS detectors, by a backshort-under-grid scheme. To obtain the goal sensitivity of 1 attoW/√Hz, detectors are cooled to 50 mK and linked to an Above IC CMOS readout circuit. For each pixel, four interleaved spiral silicon sensors gather the absorber power. They are organized in a Wheatstone bridge configuration that allows fully differential outputs: total power and polarization unbalanced intensity.

CarbON CII line in post-rEionization and ReionizaTiOn (CONCERTO) is a low-resolution spectrometer with an instantaneous field-of-view of 18.6 arcmin, operating in the 130–310 GHz transparent atmospheric window. It is installed on the 12-meter Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope at 5 100 m above sea level. The Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) contains two focal planes hosting a total of 4 304 kinetic inductance detectors. The FTS interferometric pattern is recorded on the fly while continuously scanning the sky. One of the goals of CONCERTO is to characterize the large-scale structure of the Universe by observing the integrated emission from unresolved galaxies. This methodology is an innovative technique and is called line intensity mapping. In this paper, we describe the CONCERTO instrument, the effect of the vibration of the FTS beamsplitter, and the status of the CONCERTO main survey.

Scientists must reconsider the design of cryogenically cooled spectrometers in order to fully exploit the ever-increasing sensitivity of superconducting far-infrared bolometers. While Fourier transform spectrometers (FTS) have an illustrious history in astronomical research, the sensitivity of modern detectors is such that the multiplex disadvantage of FTS is prohibitive unless the spectral bandpass can be restricted to a few tenths of one percent. One method of achieving this goal is to use a diffraction grating as a post-dispersing component. Unlike a typical FTS, in which a single detector simultaneously measures a broad spectral band, a post-dispersed detection system requires multiple detectors, each with their own unique spectral, spatial and temporal responses. Moreover, the narrow spectral band viewed by each detector results in an interferogram having a large coherence length. In general, the signal is heavily modulated, yet truncated. While simulations play a useful role in modeling instrumental performance, there is no substitute for data obtained from a real implementation of an instrument concept. In this paper we describe the development of a cryogenic, far-infrared, post-dispersed, polarizing FTS (PDPFTS). The end-to-end performance of the PDPFTS will be evaluated in a large cryogenic test facility to simulate a space environment. The results provide valuable insight into the spectral calibration and data processing challenges that will be faced by hybrid spectrometers employing a post-dispersed component.

We present recent developments on Cornell’s 2nd generation z (redshift) and Early Universe Spectrometer (ZEUS-2). ZEUS-2 is a long-slit echelle-grating spectrometer, originally implemented to deliver R∼1000 spectroscopy in the 350-, and 450-micron telluric windows using NIST Transition-Edge Sensed (TES) bolometer arrays. We have expanded its capabilities to also cover the 200-micron window, and present first-light data for the new array from our 2019 observing campaign on the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope. We also discuss the various enhancements we have implemented to improve observing efficiency and noise performance, including identifying and mitigating vibrations in hardware and improving the stability and robustness of the control software for the detector temperature. Furthermore, we have implemented several software routines to interface with the telescope control systems. These improvements, demonstrated during our recent observing campaign in Nov-Dec 2021, resulted in enhanced reliability and ease of operation, as well as increased sensitivity. A data-driven software pipeline, leveraging data from all 300 detectors on the array to remove common-mode noise, was implemented, and noise performance was further improved by robustly detecting unstable detectors and disabling them during observations.

The Lite (Light) satellite for the study of B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic background Radiation Detection (LiteBIRD) is a space mission to search for and characterize the signature of inflation in the polarized signal from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and probe fundamental physics. LiteBIRD will precisely measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background on large angular scales ≳ 1 deg. It will survey the full sky with three telescopes covering 15 frequency bands centered at frequencies from 40 to 402 GHz. The pixel design for the low- and mid-frequency telescopes features a hemispherical lenslet coupled to a broadband sinuous antenna. The radiation detected by the sinuous antenna propagates through a superconducting microstrip and on-chip bandpass filters before being detected by superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers. The TES design fulfills requirements for low saturation power of the space environment while maintaining a fast time response for use with a continuously-rotating half-wave plate. We present measurements of the electrical and thermal properties of the TES detectors with values required for the LiteBIRD mission, the design and measurements of a dual-polarization trichroic pixel at 40, 60, and 78 GHz suitable for the low-frequency telescope, and the design and preliminary measurements for a detector array at 100, 140, and 195 GHz suitable for the mid-frequency telescope.

A number of modern millimeter, sub-millimeter, and far-infrared detectors are read out using superconducting microwave (1-10GHz) resonators. The main detector technologies are Transition Edge Sensors, read out using Microwave SQUID Multiplexers (µmux) and Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors. In these readout schemes, sky signal is encoded as resonance frequency changes. One way to interrogate these superconducting resonators is to calibrate the probe tone phase such that any sky signal induced frequency shifts from the resonators show up primarily as voltage changes in only one of the two quadratures of the interrogation tone. However, temperature variations in the operating environment produce phase drifts that degrade the phase calibration and can source low frequency noise in the final detector time ordered data if left to drift too far from optimal calibration. We present a method for active software monitoring of the time delay through the system which could be used to feedback on the resonator probe tone calibration angle or to apply an offline cleaning. We implement and demonstrate this monitoring method using the SLAC Microresonator RF Electronics on a 65 channel µmux chip from NIST.

We present the details of a simulation suite for modeling the effects of readout with SLAC Microresonator RF (SMuRF) electronics. The SMuRF electronics are a warm readout and control system for use with superconducting microwave resonator-based detector systems. The system has been used with the BICEP/Keck program and will be used on the upcoming Simons Observatory and BICEP Array experiments. This simulation suite is a software implementation of the main SMuRF algorithms for offline analysis, modeling, and study. The firmware-implemented algorithms for calibration, resonator frequency estimation, and tone tracking present sources of potential bias or errors if not modeled properly. The simulator takes as input true detector signal, realistic resonator properties, and SMuRF-related user-controlled readout settings. It returns the final flux ramp-demodulated output of a detector timestream as would be passed to the experiment data acquisition system, enabling the analysis of the impact of readout-related parameters on the final science data. It is publicly available in Python with accompanying Jupyter notebooks for user tutorials.

The Prime-Cam instrument on the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) is expected to be the largest deployment of millimeter and submillimeter sensitive kinetic inductance detectors to date. To read out these arrays efficiently, a microwave frequency multiplexed readout has been designed to run on the Xilinx Radio Frequency System on a Chip (RFSoC). The RFSoC has dramatically improved every category of size, weight, power, cost, and bandwidth over the previous generation readout systems. We describe a baseline firmware design which can read out four independent RF networks each with 500 MHz of bandwidth and 1000 detectors for ∼30 W. The overall readout architecture is a combination of hardware, gateware/firmware, software, and network design. The requirements of the readout are driven by the 850 GHz instrument module of the seven-module Prime-Cam instrument. These requirements along with other constraints which have led to critical design choices are highlighted. Preliminary measurements of the system phase noise and dynamic range are presented.

The next generation of space-based mm-wave telescopes, such as JAXA’s LiteBIRD mission, require focal planes with thousands of detectors in order to achieve their science goals. Digital frequency-domain multiplexing (dfmux) techniques allow detector counts to scale without a linear growth in wire harnessing, sub-Kelvin refrigerator loads, and other scaling problems. In this paper, we introduce Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL5) electronics suitable for biasing and readout of LiteBIRD’s Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers using dfmux techniques. These electronics sit between the spacecraft’s payload computer and the cryogenic focal plane, and provide detector biasing, tuning, and readout interfaces between these detectors and the spacecraft’s on-board storage. We describe the overall architecture of the electronics, including functional decomposition into modules, the numerology and interconnection of these modules, and their internal and external interfaces. We describe performance measurements to date, including power consumption, thermal performance, and mass, volume, and reliability estimates. This paper is a companion piece to a description of the electronics’ on-board Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) firmware.

The demodulation algorithm used in readout system of superconducting arrays affects both accuracy and time resolution in scientific application. FPGA based systems are widely used in readout systems, but it is less flexible for algorithm development. We describe the development of a readout system of heterogeneous architecture, which utilize both FPGA and GPU, brings flexibility on readout algorithm development. We also implemented direct base-band recording for cross-check and post-processing. The prototype archived bandwidth no less than FPGA only system. We will also discuss the pros and cons of the architecture.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground based Cosmic Microwave Background experiment that will be deployed to the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will field over 60,000 transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers that will observe in six spectral bands between 27 GHz and 280 GHz with the goal of revealing new information about the origin and evolution of the universe. SO detectors are grouped based on their observing frequency and packaged into Universal Focal Plane Modules, each containing up to 1720 detectors which are read out using microwave SQUID multiplexing and the SLAC Microresonator Radio Frequency Electronics (SMuRF). By measuring the complex impedance of a TES we are able to access many thermoelectric properties of the detector that are difficult to determine using other calibration methods, however it has been difficult historically to measure complex impedance for many detectors at once due to high sample rate requirements. Here we present a method which uses SMuRF to measure the complex impedance of hundreds of detectors simultaneously on hour-long timescales. We compare the measured effective thermal time constants to those estimated independently with bias steps. This new method opens up the possibility for using this characterization tool both in labs and at the site to better understand the full population of SO detectors.

This article is oriented to the needs of high-speed sampling, real-time analysis and processing under wider bandwidth, higher time resolution and higher frequency resolution. It analyzes the main performance indicators and key technical issues of the terminal system, designs Based on ZCU111's general signal processing algorithm, including channelization, detector channel selection, FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filter, vector accumulation, phase calculation, etc., carries out corresponding simulation analysis and experimental verification, and studies how to improve ZCU111’s computing resource utilization and signal processing accuracy by optimizing the algorithm and parameters.

An often unglamorous, yet critical, part of most millimeter/submillimeter astronomical instruments is cryogenic temperature monitoring and control. Depending on the operating wavelength of the instrument and detector technology, this could be stable temperatures in the Kelvin range for millimeter heterodyne systems to 100 mK temperatures at sub-micro-Kelvin stability as for many submillimeter bolometer systems. Here we describe a project of the HARDWARE.astronomy initiative to build a low-cost open-source temperature monitoring and control system. The HARDWARE.astronomy Housekeeping Box, or H.aHk Box (pronounced “hack box”) is developed primarily by undergraduates and employs existing open-source devices (e.g Arduino, Raspberry Pi) to reduce costs while also limiting the complexity of the development. The H.aHk Box features a chassis with a control computer and ten expansion slots that can be filled with a variety of expansion cards. These cards include initially an AC 4-wire temperature monitor and PID control cards. Future work will develop 2-wire temperature monitors, stepper motor controller, and high-power supply. The base-system will also be able to interface with other house-keeping systems over USB, serial port and ethernet. The first deployment of the H.aHk Box will be for the ZEUS-2 submillimeter grating spectrometer. All designs, firmware, software and parts list will be published online allowing for other projects to adopt the system and create custom expansion cards as needed. Here we describe the design (including mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software components) and initial performance of the H.aHk Box system with initial AC/DC 4-wire and PID cards.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey experiment that consists of three 0.5 m small-aperture telescopes (SATs) and one 6 m large-aperture telescope (LAT), sited at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. In order to meet the sensitivity requirements set for next-generation CMB telescopes, the LAT will deploy 30,000 transition edge sensor (TES) detectors at 100 mK across 7 optics tubes (OT), all within the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver (LATR). Additionally, the LATR has the capability to expand to 62,000 TES across 13 OTs. The LAT will be capable of making arcminute-resolution observations of the CMB, with detector bands centered at 30, 40, 90, 150, 230, and 280 GHz. We have rigorously tested the LATR systems prior to deployment in order to fully characterize the instrument and show that it can achieve the desired sensitivity levels. We show that the LATR meets cryogenic and mechanical requirements, and maintains acceptably low baseline readout noise.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background survey experiment that consists of three 0.5 m small-aperture telescopes and one 6 m large-aperture telescope, sited at an elevation of 5,200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The SO focal planes will be tiled with 49 universal focal-plane modules (UFMs), in which transition-edge sensor detectors are coupled to microwave SQUID multiplexing readout components. These detector modules contain a stack of silicon wafers and chips, which are encased in an aluminum shield and electrically connected with over 10,000 wire bonds. To ensure the UFMs will maintain their electrical and mechanical integrity throughout their expected lifetime, we have developed a program of robustness testing. This program involves repeated cryogenic cycling to mimic a lifetime of operation in the field. We also describe electrical validation tools that enable the debugging of electrical shorts that can appear during assembly and device screening. As a result of these tests and developments, we expect that the UFMs will maintain operability through in-lab module screening and at least five seasons of observation in Chile.

Constraining the Galactic foregrounds with multi-frequency Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations is an essential step towards ultimately reaching the sensitivity to measure primordial gravitational waves (PGWs), the sign of inflation after the Big-Bang that would be imprinted on the CMB. The BICEP Array is a set of multi-frequency cameras designed to constrain the energy scale of inflation through CMB B-mode searches while also controlling the polarized galactic foregrounds. The lowest frequency BICEP Array receiver (BA1) has been observing from the South Pole since 2020 and provides 30 GHz and 40 GHz data to characterize galactic synchrotron in our CMB maps. In this paper, we present the design of the BA1 detectors and the full optical characterization of the camera including the on-sky performance at the South Pole. The paper also introduces the design challenges during the first observing season including the effect of out-of-band photons on detectors performance. It also describes the tests done to diagnose that effect and the new upgrade to minimize these photons, as well as installing more dichroic detectors during the 2022 deployment season to improve the BA1 sensitivity. We finally report background noise measurements of the detectors with the goal of having photon-noise dominated detectors in both optical channels. BA1 achieves an improvement in mapping speed compared to the previous deployment season.

Cosmic Microwave Background experiments need to measure polarization properties of the incoming radiation very accurately to achieve their scientific goals. As a result of that, it is necessary to properly characterize these instruments. However, there are not natural sources that can be used for this purpose. For this reason, we developed the PROTOtype CALibrator for Cosmology, PROTOCALC, which is a calibrator source designed for the 90 GHz band of these telescopes. This source is purely polarized and the direction of the polarization vector is known with an accuracy better than 0.1°. This source flew for the first time in May 2022 showing promising result.

The TolTEC camera is an imaging polarimeter installed at the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) in Mexico during December 2021. This new camera uses polarization-sensitive Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) coupled to the 50 m LMT to produce high resolution images simultaneously at 1.1, 1.4, and 2.0 mm wavelengths. We present a description of the cryogenic camera optics, the warm coupling optics, and the techniques used for on-site alignment of TolTEC with the telescope and characterization of the optics.

The MUSCAT camera is a second-generation continuum camera at the 50-m Large Millimetre Telescope (LMT) operating in the 1.1 mm band, installed in late 2021 and commissioned in early 2022. The instrument’s focal plane has 1458 horn-coupled lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) divided into six arrays deposited on three silicon wafers. This work presents the preliminary on-sky performance results of the focal plane obtained during the commissioning campaign. We characterise the detector’s beam size and shape, mapping the point-like source 3C 279 along the focal plane using raster scans, known as beam mapping. It also allows us to identify which resonance frequencies correspond to each detector located in the focal plane, which leads us to a more complete understanding of the behaviour of the detectors, providing us with a reasonable estimation of the array yield. Finally, we compare these results with those obtained during the characterization of the focal plane in the Cardiff laboratory, previously reported in Tapia et al. 2020.

MUSCAT is a new 1.1 mm band receiver which was installed on the 50 m Large Millimeter Telescope atop Volc´an Sierra Negra in Puebla, Mexico during the final quarter of 2021 and commissioned on sky throughout 2022. MUSCAT uses a novel cooling chain consisting of a commercial pulse tube cooler, two thermal stages of passively-switched continuous sorption coolers, and a final miniature dilution refrigerator. Through this system MUSCAT achieves a continuous temperature of 120 mK at the focal plane and has shown continuous operation at this temperature for greater than 100 days during readiness testing. Through minimising the amount of helium-3 required, the design on MUSCAT’s cryogenic systems produced a reliable, cost-effective cooling platform. Here we present the cryogenic design and performance of MUSCAT on-sky and compare this to that achieved during deployment-readiness testing at Cardiff (UK). We consider both cooldown time and achieved base temperature. We look at the impact on operation of relocating a pulse-tube cooled instrument from a development lab running on a 50 Hz mains electricity supply to a site running at 60 Hz. Finally, we describe the process of preparing the MUSCAT instrument for shipping and assess the success of this process in terms of remedial work required upon arrival.

Kinetic inductance detectors (KID) have great potential in astronomical observation, such as searching for exoplanets, because of their low noise, fast response and photon counting characteristics. In this paper, we present the design process and simulation results of a microstrip line coupled KIDs array for near-infrared astronomical observation. Compared with coplanar waveguide (CPW) feedlines, microstrip feedlines do not require air bridges, which simplify fabrication process. In the design part, we mainly focus on the impedance transforming networks, the KID structure, and the frequency crosstalk simulations. The test array has a total of 104 resonators with 8 rows and 13 columns, which ranges from 4.899 GHz to 6.194 GHz. The pitch size is about 200 µm and the frequency crosstalk is less than 50 kHz in simulation.

Cryogenic characterization of transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers is a time- and labor-intensive process. As new experiments deploy larger and larger arrays of TES bolometers, the testing process will become more of a bottleneck. Thus it is desirable to develop a method for evaluating detector performance at room temperature. One possibility is using machine learning to correlate detectors’ visual appearance with their cryogenic properties. Here, we use three engineering-grade TES bolometer wafers from the production cycle for SPT-3G, the current receiver on the South Pole Telescope, to train and test such an algorithm. High-resolution images of these TES bolometers were captured and relevant features were calculated from the images. Cryogenic performance metrics, including a detector’s ability to tune and superconducting parameters such as normal resistance, critical temperature, and transition width, were also measured. A random forest algorithm was trained to predict these performance metrics from the visual features. Analysis of the images proved highly successful. While the ability of the random forest algorithm to predict cryogenic features was limited with the chosen set of input image features, it is possible that an increase in data volume or the addition of more image features will solve this problem.

We describe the readout electronics for Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) that we are developing based on a commercial IQ transceivers from National Instruments and using a Virtex 5 class FPGA. It will be the readout electronics of the COSmic Monopole Observer (COSMO) experiment, a ground based cryogenic Martin-Puplett Interferometer searching for the Cosmic Microwave Background spectral y-distortions. The COSMO readout electronics requires a sampling rate in the range of tens of kHz, due to both a fast modulation of the signal with a spinning optical element and the short time constant of the Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) used in COSMO. In this contribution we show the capabilities of our readout electronics using Niobium KIDs developed by Paris Observatory for our 5 K cryogenic system. In particular, we demonstrate the capability to detect 23 resonators from frequency sweeps and to readout the state of each resonator with a sampling rate at about 12 kHz.

Recent interferometers (e.g. ALMA and NOEMA) allow us to obtain the detailed brightness distribution of the astronomical sources in 3 dimension (R.A., Dec., frequency). However, the interpixel correlation of the noise due to the limited uv coverage makes it difficult to evaluate the statistical uncertainty of the measured quantities and the statistical significance of the obtained results. The noise correlation properties are characterized by the noise autocorrelation function (ACF). We will present the method for (1) estimating the statistical uncertainty due to the correlated noise in the spatially integrated flux and spectra directly from the noise ACF and (2) simulating the correlated noise to perform a Monte Carlo simulation in image analyses. Our method has potential applications to a range of astronomical images of not only interferometers but also single dish mapping observation and interpolated and resampled optical images.

Prime-Cam is a first-generation instrument for the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope-prime (CCAT-prime) Facility. The 850 GHz module for Prime-Cam will probe the highest frequency of all the instrument modules. We describe the parameter space of the 850 GHz optical system between the Fλ spacing, beam size, pixel sensitivity, and detector count. We present the optimization of an optical design for the 850 GHz instrument module for CCAT-prime. We further describe the development of the cryogenic RF chain design to accommodate 30 readout lines to read 41,400 kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) within the cryogenic testbed.

After the current Phase 3 of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization measurements, aimed at the detection of the B-mode, there is a need of new experiments with higher sensitivity, better control of systematic effects, and the capability to separate polarized contaminants. Using the transfer matrix function method, we designed a novel experimental configuration, working as a nulling spectropolarimeter. This optical design has the capability to retrieve the spectral information of the sole linear polarization component of the incident radiation, rejecting unpolarized radiation. We present the optical design, its main features and an end-to-end forecast simulation about the absolute polarization angle measurement. This measurement is crucial for forthcoming experiments which aim to measure CMB B-mode.

Astronomy in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectrum aims at unveiling the processes behind the origin and evolution of our Universe at various scales, from protostars to the Cosmic Microwave Background. To carry out such observations, novel imaging and spectroscopy instruments covering the Tera-Hertz range are needed. At present, high-resolution spectroscopy is carried out with heterodyne detectors, using either Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor-mixers or Hot-Electron Bolometer mixers, inherently limited in bandwidth and difficult to multiplex. Imaging is accomplished with detectors working near photo-noise level, primarily Transition Edge Sensors or Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors arrays, for which the focal optics needs scaling to reach the sensitivity needed for future cosmology experiments. In this work, the simulated design of a single pixel constituted of a set of antenna-coupled detectors receiving the light focused by a metamaterial-based phase-engineered lenslet is presented. This technology relies on standard lithography fabrication techniques and enables compact and broadband imaging and spectroscopy on-chip.

The balloon-borne Japan-United States Infrared Interferometry Experiment (JUStIInE) is a pathfinder for the first space-based far-IR interferometer. JUStIInE will mature the system-level technology readiness of spatio-spectral far-IR interferometry and demonstrate this technique with scientific observations. Operating at wavelengths from 30 to 90 µm, JUStIInE will provide unprecedented sub-arcsecond angular resolution and spectroscopic data. Our plan is to develop a cryogenic Michelson beam combiner and integrate it with an existing and tested telescope optical system and gondola from the Japanese Far-infrared Interferometric Telescope Experiment (FITE). With two JUStIInE balloon flights we plan to collect, calibrate, analyze, and publish scientific results based on the first far-IR spatio-spectral observations of young stellar objects, evolved stars, and the active galactic nucleus of NGC 1068. The NASA Astrophysics Roadmap envisages a future in which interferometry is applied across the electromagnetic spectrum, starting in the far-infrared. The Far-IR Probe recommended in the 2021 Decadal Survey presents an opportunity to take that important step. A Far-IR Probe mission based on this concept will enable us to understand terrestrial planet formation and spectroscopically study individual distant galaxies to understand the astrophysical processes that govern their evolution.

Diplexers were developed to separate a wide intermediate frequency (IF) range and utilize IF below 4 GHz for wideband submillimeter array (wSMA) receivers. Diplexers were designed using superconducting materials and processed via in-house thin film fabrication. The diplexers were designed to operate around 4 K and can be integrated with other cryogenic components.

The Simons Observatory is a ground-based cosmic microwave background survey experiment that consists of three 0.5 m small-aperture telescopes and one 6 m large-aperture telescope, sited at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will deploy 60,000 transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers in 49 separate focal-plane modules across a suite of four telescopes covering 30/40 GHz low frequency (LF), 90/150 GHz mid frequency (MF), and 220/280 GHz ultra-high frequency (UHF). Each MF and UHF focal-plane module packages 1720 optical detectors spreading across 12 detector bias lines that provide voltage biasing to the detectors. During observation, detectors are subject to varying atmospheric emission and hence need to be re-biased accordingly. The re-biasing process includes measuring the detector properties such as the TES resistance and responsivity in a fast manner. Based on the result, detectors within one bias line then are biased with suitable voltage. Here we describe a technique for re-biasing detectors in the modules using the result from bias-step measurement.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a polarization-sensitive telescope array located at an altitude of 5,200 m in the Chilean Atacama Desert. CLASS is designed to measure “E-mode” (even parity) and “B-mode” (odd parity) polarization patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over large angular scales with the aim of improving our understanding of inflation, reionization, and dark matter. CLASS is currently observing with three telescopes covering four frequency bands: one at 40 GHz (Q); one at 90 GHz (W1); and one dichroic system at 150/220 GHz (G). In these proceedings, we discuss the updated design and in-lab characterization of new 90 GHz detectors. The new detectors include design changes to the transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometer architecture, which aim to improve stability and optical efficiency. We assembled and tested four new detector wafers, to replace four modules of the W1 focal plane. These detectors were installed into the W1 telescope, and will achieve first light in the austral winter of 2022. We present electrothermal parameters and bandpass measurements from in-lab dark and optical testing. From in-lab dark tests, we also measure a median NEP of 12.3 aW√ s across all four wafers about the CLASS signal band, which is below the expected photon NEP of 32 aW√ s from the field. We therefore expect the new detectors to be photon noise limited.

Planar Orthomode Transducers (OMTs) are commonly used for polarization measurements at millimeter wave-lengths. We present an optical coupling study of an octave bandwidth planar OMT in circular waveguide based on 3D electromagnetic simulations. We quantify results through metrics such as co- and cross- polar coupling, reflection, and waveguide leakage as a function of the OMT construction geometry. We evaluate the tolerance of these metrics to the waveguide backshort distance, probe impedance, waveguide gap size, and waveguide-to-probe misalignment. Two probe geometries are studied: the ‘classic’ shape used in several previous experiments, and a new ‘wineglass’ geometry. The bandwidth ratio of both optimized OMTs is 2.0:1, defined where co-polar coupling exceeds 80%. The average co-polar coupling, cross-polar coupling, reflection, and waveguide leakage of the classic probe is approximately 93%, < -50 dB, 5% and 2%, respectively and depends slightly on the exact frequency range. The wineglass probe co-polar coupling is ∼ 2% larger. Radial waveguide misalignment at the level of 4% of the waveguide radius can result in up to a 10% reduction in co-polar coupling and -20 dB cross-polar coupling in one polarization. These results may be used to guide the detector module designs of future Cosmic Microwave Background experiments and beyond.

The next generation of far-infrared space-based observatories will require large arrays of ultra-sensitive detectors, such as transition edge sensors (TES). We have constructed a new optical testbed in order to perform an end-to-end demonstration of a detector system comprising a 64-pixel TES bolometer array sensitive to the 34—60-micron wavelength range and a frequency domain multiplexing readout with baseband feedback. The testbed contains internal cold (3—35 K) and hot (up to ~300 K) black-body calibration sources, a light pipe for external illumination, and a broadband reference detector for characterizing the spectral content of the calibration sources, as well as reimaging optics for controlling the illumination of detector arrays and an external Fourier transform spectrometer for measuring their spectral response. We present our latest measurements of the optical performance of prototype arrays under multiplexed readout and discuss the implications for future space missions.

The far-infrared (IR) region is rich with information needed to characterize interstellar dust and to investigate the cold outer planets of the solar system and their icy moons. The proposed sub-orbital observatory the balloon experiment for galactic infrared science (BEGINS) will utilize cryogenic instruments to map spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of interstellar dust in the Cygnus molecular cloud complex. A future high priority flagship mission Uranus Orbiter and Probe carrying a net flux radiometer (NFR) will study the in situ heat flux of the icy giants atmosphere to 10 bar pressure. These instruments require far-IR filters to define the instrument spectral bandwidths. Our ultimate goal is to define the instrument bands of BEGINS and the NFR with linear-variable filters (LVFs) and discrete-variable filters (DVFs). The LVFs and DVFs will be made of metal mesh band-pass filters (MMBF) comprised of a 100 nm thick gold film with cross-shaped slots of varying sizes along a silicon (Si) substrate with cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) anti-reflection (AR) coatings. We present our progress towards LVFs and DVFs with simulated and measured transmission of a room temperature, non-AR coated, single-band 44 µm MMBF filter. We have successfully fabricated, measured, and modeled a non-AR coated, room temperature 44 µm MMBF. The transmission at room temperature and non-AR coated was measured to be 27% with a resolving power of 11. When COC-AR coated on both sides the transmission is expected to increase to 69% with a resolving power of ten.

Polarization modulation is a powerful technique to increase the stability of measurements by enabling the distinction of a polarized signal from dominant slow system drifts and unpolarized foregrounds. Furthermore, when placed as close to the sky as possible, modulation can reduce systematic errors from instrument polarization. In this work, we introduce the design and preliminary drive system laboratory performance of a new 60 cm diameter reflective half-wave plate (RHWP) polarization modulator. The wave plate consists of a wire array situated in front of a flat mirror. Using 50 μm diameter wires with 175 μm spacing, the wave plate will be suitable for operation in the millimeter wavelength range with flatness of the wires and parallelism to the mirror held to a small fraction of a wavelength. The presented design targets the 77–108 GHz range. Modulation is performed by a rotation of the wave plate with a custom rotary drive utilizing an actively controlled servo motor.

An ambient-temperature Continuously Rotating Half-Wave Plate (CRHWP) modulates the input polarization signal thereby enabling removal of low-frequency (1/f) noise from polarized flux measurements. This 1/f noise arises from atmospheric turbulence as well as from effects intrinsic to certain detectors. Here, we describe the design and performance of the half wave plate rotator and achromatic half-wave plate for the the new imaging polarimeter, TolTEC. These components are mounted in front of the cryostat window and operate at ambient temperature. The Half-Wave Plate Rotator (HWPR) spins the half-wave plate at 2 revolutions per second. The rotation mechanism consists of nine air bearings to provide low-friction motion and a frameless torque motor to directly drive rotation. The orientation of the rotor and half-wave plate are recorded using a high-precision optical encoder. We review the experimental requirements and technical design of the rotator as well as the associated electronics, pneumatics, and software.

Infrared-blocking scattering aerogel filters have a broad range of potential applications in astrophysics and planetary science observations in the far-infrared, sub-millimeter, and microwave regimes. Successful dielectric modeling of aerogel filters allowed the fabrication of samples to meet the mechanical and science instrument requirements for several experiments, including the Sub-millimeter Solar Observation Lunar Volatiles Experiment (SSOLVE), the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), and the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM). Thermal multi-physics simulations of the filters predict their performance when integrated into a cryogenic receiver. Prototype filters have survived cryogenic cycling to 4 K with no degradation in mechanical properties.

BISOU (Balloon Interferometer for Spectral Observations of the Universe) is a CNES phase zero study investigating the feasibility of observing spectral distortion in the CMB signal using a balloon-borne spectrometer, which also will act as a pathfinder for a future space mission dedicated to the measurements of the CMB spectral distortions. The CMB frequency spectrum is an important probe of the cosmological model. In this paper, we describe the optical layout and outline the initial optical analysis of the signal path and the reference beam path. The major challenge outlined is the inclusion of the required optical train in a confined volume of the cryostat. We include a multimoded description of the optical response of the system from the multimoded pyramidal horn through the optical path containing mirrors and wire grids and predict beam patterns on the sky.

LiteBIRD is the next-generation space mission for polarization-sensitive mapping of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, with observations covering the full sky in a wide frequency range (34-448 GHz) to ensure high-precision removal of polarized foregrounds. Its main goal is to constrain the contribution of primordial gravitational waves to the curly component of the CMB polarization pattern. The LiteBIRD Medium and High Frequency Telescope (MHFT) will observe the sky in the 89-448 GHz band. Its optical configuration features two separate dual-lens assemblies with 300mm and 200mm apertures, 28° fields of view and diffraction-limited imaging over the whole spectral range. Polarization modulation is achieved through the continuous spinning of a half-wave plate at the optical entrance of each system. The optical studies for MHFT focus on a refined modeling of the telescope elements (lenses, anti-reflection coatings, absorbers, interfaces) to assess their individual effects on the predicted optical behavior of the telescopes. Such studies will provide key inputs for end-to-end simulations and will inform the subsystem and system-level characterization to meet the stringent requirements set for the LiteBIRD success. We describe the progress in MHFT optical modeling and the ongoing efforts to reproduce full Medium Frequency Telescope (MFT) and High Frequency Telescope (HFT) beams for representative focal plane pixels down to the far-sidelobe angular region. Here, systematic effects due to challenging beam measurements and higher order optical coupling between the telescope and the surrounding structures are likely to affect the final level and shape of the beams and thus set compelling requirements for in-flight calibration and beam reconstruction.

We verified a method of near-field antenna pattern measurement for a wide-field telescope with a bolometric detector array, based on a holographic phase-retrieval technique. A signal emitter scans the telescope aperture and a reference emitter, which is phase-locked to the signal, is located at a fixed position to allow a bolometric detector to receive the both. It generates a hologram on the focal plane as a function of the signal emitter location. Since the hologram is obtained in a receiving mode, we can use the telescope-equipped detector as it is. It is beneficial for the case where such detector is integrated with a feed antenna, which characterizes the telescope performance. The new method also has an advantage that we do not need the phase calibration of the reference emitter since it is constant. We experimentally demonstrated this method with a crossed-Dragone antenna whose field of view is 18◦ × 9 ◦ at 180 GHz for three representative detector positions in the focal plane. The antenna patterns were consistent with those measured by a vector near-field measurement at the level of −60 dB, which directly acquires both the phase and the amplitude of the electric field.

The next generation of astronomical space-based far-infrared (FIR) missions require ultra-sensitive spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool. These instruments use ultra-sensitive detector technologies to attain unprecedented levels of spectral observing sensitivity. The reception patterns of the individual detectors consist of individually coherent orthogonal field distributions, or equivalently, they are few-mode (5 to 20), to increase the spectral-spatial coupling to the astronomical source. However, the disadvantage of few-mode detectors is an increase in coupling to external (from the sky or warm telescope optics) and internal (from the instrument itself) straylight, which can greatly affect the measurement of the source spectrum. Therefore, understanding the spectral-spatial few-mode behavior of these systems in detail, and developing verification and calibration strategies, are crucial to ensure that the science goals of these future mission are met. Since conventional modelling techniques are less suited to address this problem, we developed a modal framework to model, analyze, and address these issues. In this paper, we use Herschel’s spectral and photometric imaging receiver (SPIRE) as a case study, because its optical design is representative for future FIR missions and illustrative to highlight calibration issues observed in-flight, while including straylight. Our analysis consist out of two part. In the first part, we use our modal framework to simulate the few-mode SPIRE Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS). In the second part, we carry out a end-to-end frequency-dependent partially coherent analysis of Herschel-SPIRE. These simulations offer a qualitative explanation for the few-mode behavior observed in-flight. Furthermore, we use the Herschel-SPIRE case-study to demonstrate how the modelling framework can be used to support the design, verification and calibration of spectrometers for future FIR missions. The modal framework is not only limited to the spectrometers discussed, but it can be used to simulated a wide range of spectrometers, such as low-resolution gratings and high-spectral resolution Fabry-Pérot interferometers.

The Simons Array is an experiment located in the Atacama Desert in Chile that will measure the polarization anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background. It consists of three telescopes that house the receivers POLARBEAR-2A, POLARBEAR-2B and POLARBEAR-2C, which will observe the CMB at 90, 150, 220 and 270 GHz with over 22,000 Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. Each receiver contains a focal plane composed of seven hexagonal arrays of lenslet-coupled sinuous antenna bolometers, with each dichroic pixel containing four TESs. The readout system uses Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices for signal amplification and digital frequency-domain multiplexing with a multiplexing factor of 40. The sensitivity of the Simons Array instruments is governed by the detectors’ noise level and the telescope optical throughput, thus an on-site signal to noise characterization is essential to evaluate the instrument. We present the post-deployment measured readout noise and methods used to improve the noise performance of POLARBEAR-2A detectors, which measure radiation in the 90 and 150 GHz bands.

Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background rely on cryogenic instrumentation with cold detectors, readout, and optics providing the low noise performance and instrumental stability required to make more sensitive measurements. It is therefore critical to optimize all aspects of the cryogenic design to achieve the necessary performance, with low temperature components and acceptable system cooling requirements. In particular, we will focus on our use of thermal filters and cold optics, which reduce the thermal load passed along to the cryogenic stages. To test their performance, we have made a series of in situ measurements while integrating the third receiver for the BICEP Array telescope. In addition to characterizing the behavior of this receiver, these measurements continue to refine the models that are being used to inform design choices being made for future instruments.

In this paper we discuss the modeling, development and testing of the optical bread-board models of the Medium and High Frequency Telescope (MHFT) onboard the LiteBIRD satellite. The future JAXA mission LiteBIRD will search for the signature of primordial gravitational waves through the measurement of the “B-modes” of the cosmic microwave background polarization. MHFT will observe the polarized microwave sky between 89 and 448 GHz by means of two refractive telescopes. The accurate knowledge of their optical properties is fundamental to assess the impact of systematic effects (e.g. beam deformation, side lobes and intensity to polarization leakage) on the future observations. To gain early experience with our test approach, and to provide hints of possible criticalities in the design and characterization of a MHFT-like refractive system, we developed two optical bread-board models. The BB1, a single dielectric lens coupled to a fully characterized W-band corrugated horn, allows us to assess the accuracy and potential limitations of different measurement methods and to verify the reliability of optical simulators in predicting refractive elements and systems, as compared to the precision required by LiteBIRD. The BB2, a 1⁄2-scaled version of the Medium Frequency Telescope, focuses on the modelling and issues of dual-lens coupling, while providing a test-bed to finalize the MHFT optical calibration plan for its higher levels of integration.

The BICEP3 Polarimeter is a small aperture, refracting telescope, dedicated to the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 95GHz. It is designed to target degree angular scale polarization patterns, in particular the very-much-sought-after primordial B-mode signal, which is a unique signature of cosmic inflation. The polarized signal from the sky is reconstructed by differencing co-localized, orthogonally polarized superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. In this work, we present absolute measurements of the polarization response of the detectors for more than approximately 800 functioning detector pairs of the BICEP3 experiment, out of a total of approximately 1000. We use a specifically designed Rotating Polarized Source (RPS) to measure the polarization response at multiple source and telescope boresight rotation angles, to fully map the response over 360 degrees. We present here polarization properties extracted from on-site calibration data taken in January 2022. A similar calibration campaign was performed in 2018, but we found that our constraint was dominated by systematics on the level of approximately 0.5° . After a number of improvements to the calibration set-up, we are now able to report a significantly lower level of systematic contamination. In the future, such precise measurements will be used to constrain physics beyond the standard cosmological model, namely cosmic birefringence.

In radio astronomy instrumentation, the benefit of increased spectral grasp must be evaluated against a decrease in overall system performance (e.g., system noise, stability, and optical efficiency) and considerable effort has gone into quantifying the best overall choice to define receiver bands for a particular telescope; present examples include the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) where the higher bands do not exceed a bandwidth of 1.7:1. During the last two years, NRC Herzberg has been researching wide bandwidth waveguide and active components in order to extend the bandwidth to a full 2:1 octave bandwidth. We report on recent innovation in front-end receiver components, including an octave bandwidth feed horn, OMT, and LNA, to enable wideband science

Tunable antenna-coupled intersubband terahertz (TACIT) mixers are a new type of THz heterodyne detectors based on intersubband transitions in single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. TACIT mixers have been predicted to have low single-sideband (SSB) noise temperature (∼2,000 K) at 20–60 K with a wide IF bandwidth (∼10 GHz) and a small required local-oscillator (LO) power (< 1 µW). In addition, the detection frequency of TACIT mixers can be tuned in-situ in a wide frequency range (2–5 THz). In TACIT mixers, THz signal (RF) channel is separated from GHz intermediate-frequency (IF) read-out channel, allowing individual optimization of the RF and IF channels for efficient impedance matching. We present simple equivalent-circuit models for the RF and IF channels of TACIT mixers and demonstrate that the RF and IF impedances calculated from the models are in good agreement with their indirect or direct experimental characterizations in prototype TACIT mixers. We show that the separately optimized RF and IF channels in practical TACIT mixers can yield high impedance matching efficiencies.

We compare the design of two 0.85 THz SIS mixers fed with a radial probe antenna aligned to the E-Plane of the input full-height rectangular waveguide connected to a drilled smooth-walled horn. Both designs employ the same 0.5 µm² hybrid Nb/AlN/NbN tunnel junction technology, sandwiched between a NbTiN ground and aluminium wiring layer fabricated on top of a 40 µm quartz substrate. The two designs is differed by how we tune out the unwanted junction capacitance for broadband performance. The first design uses the commonly-used twin-junction tuning scheme; whilst the second design utilises an end-loaded scheme. We successfully achieve close to 2× the double sideband quantum noise performance for both schemes, but the twin-junction design is less sensitive to fabrication accuracy of planar circuit components utilised. However, the end-loaded design offers a much better IF bandwidth performance, almost twice wider than the twin-junction design. The need for an ultra-wide IF bandwidth mixer is becoming more pressing and important for the future and up-coming upgrades of various millimetre (mm) and sub-mm astronomical instruments, hence we conclude that the end-loaded design is a better solution for the THz heterodyne mixing applications.

The next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) front end incorporates six dual-polarization receivers covering the frequency range from 1.2 to 116 GHz. The ngVLA Band-1 receiver covers a frequency range of 1.2 to 3.5 GHz. This wideband requirement presents a challenge for the extremely low noise design for the required cryogenic low noise amplifier (LNA). GaAs HEMT technology is very reliable at a gate length of 150 nm and that gate feature size is suitable for low noise amplifiers up to the microwave frequency range. Below 3 GHz, the transistor gate has a very large capacitive impedance, exhibiting like an open circuit, which requires large values of inductors for 50 Ω impedance and low noise matching. The hybrid circuit configuration allows the design to select high-Q discrete inductors and capacitors with large values to minimize loss/noise from passive components. A two-stage single-ended GaAs HEMT LNA was designed based on the hybrid configuration. A prototype ngVLA Band-1 LNA was assembled and fully tested at a physical temperature 12 K. This newly designed GaAs HEMT LNA achieved 1.6 K average noise temperature and 34 dB average high gain between 1.2 and 3.5 GHz, the total power consumption is about 10 mW, which can meet the current requirements of the ngVLA Band-1 receiver.

The Submillimetre-Wave Instrument (SWI) is a passive microwave spectrometer of JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), a large-class mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision. It consists of two 600 GHz and 1200 GHz dual channel radiometers that involve compact, non-cryogenic Schottky diodes based solid-state devices for the mixer and last stage local oscillator frequency multipliers that are passively cooled to 150K. In this paper we will present the exhaustive qualification and endurance testing of the 300 GHz doubler element, standing at the interface between the warm (300K) and cold (150K) electronic front-end for both 600GHz and 1200 GHz channels. We present its associated extensive set of screening and lot acceptance testing as a part of the delivery of the final MMIC subcomponents integrated in the flight and flight spare models including the test structures used, the tests conditions as well as the failure criteria (PDA, allowable drifts).

After having adapted the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) atmospheric phase monitoring system that was developed for the submillimeter array (SMA), IRAM is currently refining the concept for a future permanent implementation on the northern extended millimeter array (NOEMA) site. This system is based on commercial low noise block attached to a satellite dish that receive signal from geostationary satellites. The baselines (one so far) amplitude and phase are processed to provide real-time statistical data in the direction of the satellite and give information about the atmospheric phase distortion experienced by the NOEMA interferometer antennas.

We present RF-ICE, a novel readout platform for microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), optimized for use on millimeter-wavelength telescopes. The RF-ICE system extends ICE, a versatile, mature signal processing platform currently in use on telescopes around the world, into a new operational domain with MKIDs biased with gigahertz carriers. The system couples the FPGA-based ICE motherboard with a radio-frequency digitization daughterboard to enable direct digital synthesis from 0 to 6 GHz without the need for external mixing. The system operates two independent readout modules, each with 1024 frequency-multiplexed readout channels spaced across 500 MHz of carrier bandwidth. The system, which is under active development, is in operation with prototype detector wafers and will be deployed for the upcoming SPT-SLIM and SPT-3G+ experiments.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey experiment that consists of three 0.5 m small-aperture telescopes and one 6 m large-aperture telescope, sited at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will utilize more than 60,000 transition edge sensors (TES) to observe CMB temperature and polarization in six frequency bands from 27-280 GHz. Common to both the small and large aperture telescope receivers (LATR) is the 300K-4K Universal Readout Harness (URH), which supports up to 600 DC bias lines and 24 radio frequency (RF) channels consisting of input and output coaxial cables, input attenuators and custom high dynamic range 40K low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) on the output readout coaxial cable. Each RF channel can read out up to 1000 TES detectors. In this paper, we will present the design and characterization of the six URHs constructed for the initial phase of SO deployment.

The next generation of space-based mm-wave telescopes, such as JAXA’s LiteBIRD mission, require focal planes with thousands of detectors in order to achieve their science goals. Digital frequency-domain multiplexing (dfmux) techniques allow detector counts to scale without a linear growth in wire harnessing, sub-Kelvin refrigerator loads, and other scaling problems. In this paper, we describe the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) firmware executed in the design’s Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This firmware is responsible for synthesizing bias tones, performing dynamic feedback control of the bolometer voltage bias and/or Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) nuller currents, demodulating and decimating bolometer channels into science data, and streaming the results for storage and eventual downlink. We describe how this firmware has been tailored for LiteBIRD, including the control path, improvements to power- and resource-efficiency, the addition of radiation-mitigation functions, and the integration of new bolometer biasing schemes that may help mitigate mission-specific design challenges. This paper is a companion piece to the description of the electronics platform in which the firmware operates.

LiteBIRD is a satellite mission designed to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at degree and larger scales from 40 to 402 GHz. LiteBIRD will use 4,600 Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers biased and read out using Digital Frequency Domain Multiplexing (DfMux). The DfMux implementation for LiteBIRD uses sub-kelvin Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) at the same 0.1 K thermal stage as the detectors, this allows for reduced parasitic impedances within the mK circuit and improved SQUID performance. Additionally it must work in the integrated system with the spacecraft’s wiring harnesses, which will be longer than is typical on similar ground based experiments, and therefore have more significant parasitic impedances which will impact readout performance. The properties of SQUID candidates at millikelvin temperatures and effects of the spacecraft-like meter scale wiring harness are investigated. Additionally, the possibility of inductively rather than resistively biasing our bolometers at the 0.1K stage, to reduce power dissipation in the bias element, is investigated. We will report progress on validating the cryogenic components of this readout system.

We consider the stability and performance of a discrete-time control loop used as a dynamic nuller in the presence of a relatively large time delay in its feedback path. Controllers of this form occur in mm-wave telescopes using frequency-multiplexed Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. In this application, negative feedback is needed to linearize a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) used as an amplifier. M such feedback loops are frequency-multiplexed through a SQUID at distinct narrowband frequencies in the MHz region. Loop latencies stem from the use of polyphase filter bank (PFB) up- and down-converters and have grown significantly as the detector count in these experiments increases. As expected, latency places constraints on the overall gain K for which the loop is stable. However, latency also creates spectral peaks at stable gains in the spectral response of the closed loop. Near these peaks, the feedback loop amplifies (rather than suppresses) input signals at its summing junction, rendering it unsuitable for nulling over a range of stable gains. We establish a critical gain KC above which this amplifying or “anti-nulling” behaviour emerges, and find that KC is approximately a factor of 3.8 below the gain at which the system becomes unstable. Finally, we describe an alteration to the loop tuning algorithm that selects an appropriate (stable, effective for nulling) loop gain without sensitivity to variations in analog gains due to component tolerances.

The transition edge sensor (TES) bias waveform is the summation of carriers of equal, or similar, power. Because of the relative phases, the amplitude of the waveform at any given time sample will exceed the maximum range of the digital-toanalog converter (DAC). And this poses the problem of clipping buffer. Scale the waveform so that it fits within the DAC limits results in carrier and average powers that are reduced by the square of the scaling factor. Directly clip the waveform reduces the carrier power and introduces higher relative phase error. This work develops a clipping algorithm that can generate reliable buffer waveforms without affecting power in each carrier. In TES readout, we need to acquire the accurate initial phases of signals of interest. Coarse channelization followed by fine channelization can be adopted to achieve higher spectral resolution. In radio astronomy, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) is commonly used as channelization for signal processing, while it causes spectral leakage. And this problem can be greatly improved by the technique of polyphase filterbanks (PFB). The PFB consists of a polyphase FIR frontend and an FFT. In order to verify the effectiveness of PFB, we use FFT + FFT method and PFB + FFT method to acquire the initial phases and make a comparison.

Topologies of programming implemented in FPGAs are currently being developed with a combination of techniques to properly take advantage of hardware resources and maximize their capabilities. In this document we present a hardware architecture for real-time computation of FPGAs and readout applied to spectrometers in radio astronomy. The proposed architecture has been verified on Xilinx ZYNQ 7000 and Virtex-6 (XC6VSX475T1FFG1759C), which can run at a frequency up to 6 GHz and 4 GHz respectively with high accuracy. We present two spectrometers developed in FPGA’s architectures using polyphase filters and FFT on ROACH-2 and decimator with polyphase filters on Zedboard ZYNQ 7000. The spectrometer works continuously and has a remarkable total bandwidth of 200 MHz on ROACH2 and 23 MHz on ZYNQ 7000, resolved into 4096 channels. The firmware on ZYNQ board offer better resolution of 5.6 kHz than ROACH-2 of 49 kHz. DSP48 is the resource most used on ROACH, due to the firmware includes an FFT stage. We discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each approach.

The Epoch of Reionization Spectrometer (EoR-Spec) is one of the instrument modules to be installed in the Prime-Cam receiver of the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST). This six-meter aperture telescope will be built on Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert in Chile. EoR-Spec is designed to probe early star-forming regions by measuring the [CII] fine-structure lines between redshift z = 3.5 and z = 8 using the line intensity mapping technique. The module is equipped with a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) to achieve the spectral resolving power of about RP = 100. The FPI consists of two parallel and identical, highly reflective mirrors with a clear aperture of 14 cm, forming a resonating cavity called etalon. The mirrors are silicon based and patterned with double-layer metamaterial anti-reflection coatings (ARC) on one side and metal mesh reflectors on the other. The double-layer ARCs ensure a low reflectance at one substrate surface and help tailor the reflectance profile over the FPI bandwidth. Here we present the design, fabrication processes, test setup, and characterization of silicon mirrors for the FPI.

Recent advances in far-infrared detector technology have led to increases in raw sensitivity of more than an order of magnitude over previous state-of-the-art detectors. With such sensitivity, photon noise becomes the dominant noise component, even when using cryogenically cooled optics, unless a method of restricting the spectral bandpass is employed. The leading instrument concept features reflecting grating spectrometers to post-disperse the light that has been modulated by a polarizing Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) onto a detector array, thereby reducing the photon noise on each detector. This paper describes the development of a cryogenic (4 K) reflection grating spectrometer which operates over the wavelength range from 285 µm–500 µm and was used to post-disperse the output from a room-temperature polarizing FTS. Measurements of the grating resolving power and diffraction efficiency are presented as a function of both wavelength and polarization to characterize the instrument performance

Astrophysical measurements at far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths have many applications, including probing the fuel for cosmic star formation and understanding the role of dust in the interstellar medium. We are currently developing an on-chip spectrometer operable in the 100-200µm [50-100 cm−1 ] band with sub-micron spectral resolution coupled to a low-noise kinetic inductance detector (KID) array with planned noise equivalent power (NEP) < 10−19 WHz1/2 . Ultimately we will need to evaluate the spectral response of these chips at very low photon backgrounds. While the spectral performance can be simulated, it is crucial to make measurements of the as-built properties of the chip with a calibrator. To this end, we have designed and fabricated a cryogenic Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). Since self-emission from the FTS at room temperature would dominate a cold black body source, the FTS optics are cooled to a temperature of 5K, which greatly reduces the photon background and simulates space-like conditions. The FTS is based on the Michelson design, with 6 fixed Aucoated Al mirrors, back-to-back moving mirrors that increase the effective optical path length by a factor of 2, and a kapton film beamsplitter. Light is coupled into the FTS using HDPE collimating lenses protected by bandpass filters, and the output beam is coupled directly into the device under test through a shared vacuum space. In this paper, we report on the FTS design and discuss its fabrication and testing plan.

The high spectral resolution mode of the SpicA FAR-infrared Instrument (SAFARI) is enabled by inserting a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), based on a Martin-Puplett interferometer, into the signal path of the instrument. The cryogenic FTS mechanism (FTSM) enables linear scans of two back-to-back rooftop mirrors sharing a common apex. ABB Inc. is under contract with the Canadian Space Agency to develop and test at 4 K an FTSM Engineering Demonstration Unit (EDU) for TRL-5 demonstration. The main SAFARI FTSM performance drivers are the stringent mechatronic demands (position stability of roof-top mirrors in step scan mode <10 nm RMS, velocity jitter in constant velocity mode <1% RMS at 85 µm/s, linear stroke <34 mm, error on position feedback laser metrology <10 nm RMS) and ultra-low photon leakage level from laser metrology (<1 pW), severely constrained by a tight thermal budget (heat dissipation <1.5 mW) under a specific micro-vibration environment (30 µg/√Hz external), all at cryogenic temperatures (4 K). In this paper, we describe the FTSM EDU developed and built at ABB with its laser metrology sensor. The FTSM EDU is based on a novel cryogenic design presented in 2020 using a reactionless and long-stroke flexure-based 4-bar linkage with stiffness compensation and a custom moving magnet actuator. Results from FTSM EDU room-temperature characterization and cryogenic proof-of-concept tests conducted at University of Lethbridge as a key step towards TRL-5 demonstration are discussed to assess the compliance of this novel design to the challenging cryogenic SAFARI FTSM performance requirements.

The Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM) is designed to probe the star formation history in dust-obscured star-forming galaxies around the peak of cosmic star formation. This will be done via measurements of the redshifted 157.7 µm line of singly ionized carbon ([CII]). TIM employs two R~250 long-slit grating spectrometers covering 240 to 420 µm. Each is equipped with a focal plane unit containing four wafer-sized subarrays of horn-coupled aluminum kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). We present the design and performance of a prototype focal plane assembly for one of TIM’s KID-based subarrays. The overall detector package must satisfy thermal and mechanical requirements, while maintaining high optical efficiency and a suitable electromagnetic environment for the KIDs. In particular, our design manages to strictly maintain a 50 µm air gap between the array and the horn block. The prototype detector housing in combination with the first flight-like quadrant were tested at 250 mK. A frequency scan using a vector network analyzer shows 823 resonance features, which represents ⪆90% yield, indicating a good performance of our TIM detector wafer and the whole focal plane unit. Initial measurements also showed that many resonances were affected by collisions and/or very shallow transmission dips as a result of a degraded internal quality factor. This is attributed to the presence of an external magnetic field during cooldown. We report on a study of magnetic field dependence of the quality factor of our quadrant array. We implemented a Helmholtz coil to vary the magnetic field at the detectors by (partially) nulling earth’s. Our investigation shows that the earth magnetic field can significantly affect our KIDs’ performance by degrading the quality factor by a factor of two to five, well below those expected from the operational temperature or optical loading. We find that we can sufficiently recover our detectors’ quality factor by tuning the current in the coils to generate a field that matches earth’s magnetic field in magnitude to within a few µT. We emphasize that it is impractical to fly a Helmholtz coil on TIM and dynamically “null” earth’s. Therefore, it is necessary to employ a properly designed magnetic shield enclosing the TIM focal plane unit. Based on the results presented in this paper, we set a shielding requirement of |B| ⪅3 µT.

The epoch of reionization spectrometer (EoR-Spec) is an instrument module that will be deployed in the Prime-Cam receiver on the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), which is a 6m off-axis telescope for the CCAT-prime facility. FYST is currently being built in the Atacama Desert in Chile at an altitude of 5600 m. With the Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), EoR-Spec will measure the 158 µm [CII] line intensity at redshifts from 3.5 to 8 (420 to 210 GHz), with the lower redshifts tracing star formation and higher redshifts tracing the late stages of reionization. An EoR-Spec module includes three monolithic and monochroic feedhorn-coupled arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), two of which are centered at 260 GHz with the other centered at 370 GHz. We present the design and integration process of the EoR-Spec detector array at both bands. The 370 GHz detector array will consist of 3072 detectors and each of the 260 GHz arrays will consist of 1728 detectors. Each of the detector arrays contains an aluminum feedhorn array and is read out by a few pairs of coaxial cables.

The Epoch of Reionization Spectrometer (EoR-Spec) will be an instrument module for the Prime-Cam receiver on the CCAT-prime Collaboration’s Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), a 6-m primary mirror Crossed Dragone telescope. With its Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), EoR-Spec will step through frequencies between 210 and 420 GHz to perform line intensity mapping of the 158 µm [CII] line in aggregates of star-forming galaxies between redshifts of 3.5 and 8 to trace the evolution of structure in the Universe during the epoch of reionization. Here we present the optical design of the module including studies of the optical quality and other key parameters at the image surface. In order to achieve the optimal resolving power (R∼100) with the FPI, it is important to have a highly collimated beam at the Lyot stop of the system; the optimization process to achieve this goal with four lenses instead of three as used in other Prime-Cam modules is outlined. As part of the optimization, we test the effect of replacing some of the aspheric lenses with biconic lenses in this Crossed Dragone design and find that the biconic lenses tends to improve the image quality across the focal plane of the module.

We have developed a suite of novel infrared-blocking filters made by embedding scattering particles in a polymer aerogel substrate. Our developments allow us to tune the spectral performance of the filters based on both the composition of the base aerogel material and the properties of the scattering particles. Our filters are targeted for use in a variety of applications, from ground-based CMB experiments to planetary science probes. We summarize the formulations we have fabricated and tested to date, including several polyimide base aerogel formulations incorporating a range of size distributions of diamond scattering particles. We also describe the spectral characterization techniques used to measure the filters’ optical properties, including the development of a mm-wave Fourier transform spectrometer testbed.

This conference presentation was prepared for the Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI conference at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022.

We develop a continuously rotating achromatic half-wave plate (HWP) for LiteBIRD. An achromatic HWP is made of five-layer sapphire plates following a Pancharatnam design. The two surfaces employ broadband anti-reflection (AR) sub-wavelength structures (SWS) fabricated with ultra-short pulsed laser ablation. For designing AHWP with SWS, we fabricated three representative structures using laser ablation. One has a symmetric SWS shape and the other two have different asymmetric shapes in ordinary and extraordinary directions. We modeled five-layer AHWP with SWS based on fabricated shapes and numerically evaluated their transmittance, modulation efficiency, and phase of the modulated signal using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method. We also added instrumental polarization (IP) as the figure-of-merit, which is a conversion of unpolarized to polarized light. IP creates an undesired modulated signal, which may cause a non-linear response in a bolometric detector. The typical cause of IP is the imperfection of AR SWS. From calculations, we did not find a significant difference in IP among the three cases. However, we found the impact on the modulation efficiency because the retardance depends on the SWS shapes. Furthermore, the retardance depends on frequency. We numerically analyzed the impact of the extra retardance from SWS on the overall AHWP performance. We show one of the three cases has the broadest modulation efficiency by compensating for the frequency dependence of the retardance from the SWS and the AHWP sapphire stacks.

New experiments that target the B-mode polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background require more sensitivity, more detectors, and thus larger-aperture millimeter-wavelength telescopes, than previous experiments. These larger apertures require ever larger vacuum windows to house cryogenic optics. Scaling up conventional vacuum windows, such as those made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), require a corresponding increase in the thickness of the window material to handle the extra force from the atmospheric pressure. Thicker windows cause more transmission loss at ambient temperatures, increasing optical loading and decreasing sensitivity. We have developed the use of woven High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE), a material 100 times stronger than HDPE, to manufacture stronger, thinner windows using a pressurized hot lamination process. We discuss the development of a specialty autoclave for generating thin laminate vacuum windows and the optical and mechanical characterization of full scale science grade windows, with the goal of developing a new window suitable for BICEP Array cryostats and for future CMB applications.

Microwave telescopes require an ever-increasing control of experimental systematics in their quest to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) to exquisite levels of precision. One important systematic for ground and balloon-borne experiments is ground pickup, where beam sidelobes detect the thermal emission of the much warmer ground while the main beam is scanning the sky. This generates scan-synchronous noise in experiment timestreams, which is difficult to filter out without also deleting some of the signal from the sky. Therefore, efficient modelling of pickup can help guide the design of experiments and of analysis pipelines. In this work, we present an extension to the BEAMCONV algorithm that enables us to generate time-ordered data (TOD) from beam-convolved sky and ground maps simultaneously. We simulate ground pickup for both a ground-based experiment and a telescope attached to a stratospheric balloon. Ground templates for the balloon experiment are obtained by re-projecting satellite maps of the Earth’s microwave emission.

The two most common components of several upcoming CMB experiments are large arrays of superconductive TES (Transition-Edge Sensor) detectors and polarization modulator units, e.g. continuously-rotating Half-Wave Plates (HWP). A high detector count is necessary to increase the instrument raw sensitivity, however past experiments have shown that systematic effects are becoming one of the main limiting factors to reach the sensitivity required to detect primordial B-modes. Therefore, polarization modulators have become popular in recent years to mitigate several systematic effects. Polarization modulators based on HWP technologies require a rotating mechanism to spin the plate and modulate the incoming polarized signal. In order to minimize heat dissipation from the rotating mechanism, which is a stringent requirement particularly for a space mission like LiteBIRD, we can employ a superconductive magnetic bearing to levitate the rotor and achieve contactless rotation. A disadvantage of this technique is the associated magnetic fields generated by those systems. In this paper we investigate the effects on a TES detector prototype and find no detectable Tc variations due to an applied constant (DC) magnetic field, and a non-zero TES response to varying (AC) magnetic fields. We quantify a worst-case TES responsivity to the applied AC magnetic field of ∼ 105 pA/G, and give a preliminary interpretation of the pick-up mechanism.

LiteBIRD is the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation polarization satellite mission led by ISAS/JAXA. The main scientific goal is to search for primordial gravitational wave signals generated from the inflation epoch of the Universe. LiteBIRD telescopes employ polarization modulation units (PMU) using continuously rotating half-wave plates (HWP). The PMU is a crucial component to reach unprecedented sensitivity by mitigating systematic effects, including 1/f noise. We have developed a 1/10 scale prototype PMU of the LiteBIRD LFT, which has a 5-layer achromatic HWP and a diameter of 50 mm, spanning the observational frequency range of 34-161 GHz. The HWP is mounted on a superconducting magnetic bearing (SMB) as a rotor and levitated by a high-temperature superconductor as a stator. In this study, the entire PMU system is cooled down to 10 K in the cryostat chamber by a 4-K Gifford-McMahon (GM) cooler. We propagate an incident coherent millimeter-wave polarized signal throughout the rotating HWP and detect the modulated signal. We study the modulated optical signal and any rotational synchronous signals from the rotation mechanism. We describe the testbed system and the preliminary data acquired from this setup. This testbed is built to integrate the broadband HWP PMU and evaluate the potential systematic effects in the optical data. This way, we can plan with a full-scale model, which takes a long time for preparation and testing.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background survey experiment that consists of three 0.5 m small-aperture telescopes and one 6 m large-aperture telescope, sited at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will study the polarization and temperature anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The observatory will require well-understood telescope pointing and scanning. Good antenna control will allow us to execute the scan strategy devised to optimize sensitivity to our scientific goals, calibrate the system with celestial targets, and make maps. To achieve this, we integrate the data acquisition and control of the telescopes’ Antenna Control Units (ACUs) within the software framework of the SO Observatory Control System (OCS). We present here the current status of the software integration for the ACUs, as well as measurements of the Small Aperture Telescope platforms’ responsiveness to software commanding in the factory, plans for in situ measurements, and prospects for implementation on the Large Aperture Telescope.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a telescope array observing the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at frequency bands centered near 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz. CLASS measures the CMB polarization on the largest angular scales to constrain the inflationary tensor-to-scalar ratio and the optical depth due to reionization. To achieve the long time-scale stability necessary for this measurement from the ground, CLASS utilizes a front-end, variable-delay polarization modulator on each telescope. Here we report on the improvements in stability afforded by front-end modulation using data across all four CLASS frequencies. Across one month of modulated linear polarization data in 2021, CLASS achieved median knee frequencies of 9.1, 29.1, 20.4, and 36.4 mHz for the 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz observing bands. The knee frequencies are approximately an order of magnitude lower than achieved via CLASS pair-differencing orthogonal detector pairs without modulation.

We present new wide field survey strategies for Chilean Large Aperture Telescopes (LAT) measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which we call Sinusoidal Modulated High Cadence Survey Strategies. The strategies were developed during the process of optimizing LAT measurements for the CMB-S4, Simons Observatory, and CCAT-prime collaborations. Observing more than f_sky ∼0.5, the telescope consistently achieves high observation efficiency, even with Sun-avoidance enabled. Classical azimuthal scan survey strategies observing fields of equal size suffer from problems of observation depth non-uniformity relative to declination and lack of crosslinking. The new survey strategies described here significantly improve both uniformity and crosslinking while also enabling higher cadence observations for time-domain astrophysics. Uniformity and crosslinking are improved by modulation of azimuthal angular velocity and sinusoidal elevation nods, respectively. In particular, there is nearly uniform observation depth and crosslinking is improved from total lack of crosslinking near −40° declination to clearing the strictest thresholds for crosslinking across the entire field. The simulated strategies are compared to the strategies used for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and previously studied Simons Observatory survey strategies.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) telescope array surveys 75% of the sky from the Atacama desert in Chile at frequency bands centered near 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz. CLASS measures the largest-angular scale (θ ≳ 1 ◦ ) CMB polarization with the aim of constraining the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, measuring the optical depth to reionization, τ , to near the cosmic variance limit, and more. The CLASS Q-band (40 GHz), W-band (90 GHz), and dichroic high frequency (150/220 GHz) telescopes have been observing since June 2016, May 2018, and September 2019, respectively. On-sky optical characterization of the 40 GHz instrument has been published. Here, we present preliminary on-sky measurements of the beams at 90, 150, and 220 GHz, and pointing stability of the 90 and 150/220 GHz telescopes. The average 90, 150, and 220 GHz beams measured from dedicated observations of Jupiter have full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.615±0.019◦ , 0.378±0.005◦ , and 0.266 ± 0.008◦ , respectively. Telescope pointing variations are within a few % of the beam FWHM.

QUBIC (Q and U bolometric interferometer for cosmology) is an international ground-based experiment dedicated to the measurement of the polarized fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It is based on bolometric interferometry, an original detection technique which combines the immunity to systematic effects of an interferometer with the sensitivity of low temperature incoherent detectors. QUBIC will be deployed in Argentina, at the Alto Chorrillos mountain site near San Antonio de los Cobres, in the Salta province. The QUBIC detection chain consists of 2048 NbSi transition edge sensors (TESs) cooled to 320 mK. The voltage-biased TESs are read out with time domain multiplexing based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) at 1 K and a novel SiGe application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) at 60 K allowing an unprecedented multiplexing (MUX) factor equal to 128 to be reached. The current QUBIC version is based on a reduced number of detectors (1/4) in order to validate the detection technique. The QUBIC experiment is currently being validated in the lab in Salta (Argentina) before going to the site for observations. This paper presents the main results of the characterization phase with a focus on the detectors and readout system.

We report the design of a 230 GHz dual-polarization (2-pol) balanced Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) receiver that can be easily extended for large array applications. We achieve this by integrating all of the required radio frequency (RF) and local oscillator (LO) components on-chip using planar superconducting circuit technology, therefore simplifying the architecture of the receiver block substantially. One major feature of our design is the planar LO injection scheme, which couples the LO with a single on-chip antenna and distributes the LO power via a series of microstrip couplers to the balanced mixers of each polarization of each pixel. In this paper, we describe in detail the design and layout of the individual planar circuit components of our receiver, as well as how they are integrated to form a full receiver. We then conclude the paper with the design of a 2-pixel array demonstrator, illustrating how the balanced SIS mixer and the LO distribution network can be extended to form an even larger array.

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) will measure the 21 cm emission of astrophysical neutral hydrogen to probe large scale structure at redshifts z = 0.8–2.5. However, detecting the 21 cm signal beneath substantially brighter foregrounds remains a key challenge. Due to the high dynamic range between 21 cm and foreground emission, an exquisite calibration of instrument systematics, notably the telescope beam, is required to successfully filter out the foregrounds. One technique being used to achieve a high fidelity measurement of the CHIME beam is radio holography, wherein signals from each of CHIME’s analog inputs are correlated with the signal from a co-located reference antenna, the 26 m John A. Galt telescope, as the 26 m Galt telescope tracks a bright point source transiting over CHIME. In this work we present an analysis of several of the Galt telescope’s properties. We employ drift-scan measurements of several bright sources, along with background estimates derived from the 408 MHz Haslam map, to estimate the Galt system temperature. To determine the Galt telescope’s beam shape, we perform and analyze a raster scan of the bright radio source Cassiopeia A. Finally, we use early holographic measurements to measure the Galt telescope’s geometry with respect to CHIME for the holographic analysis of the CHIME-Galt interferometric data set.

Millimetron Space Observatory will be equipped with the cryogenically cooled instruments for a Space-Earth Very Large Baseline Interferometry (S-E VLBI). It will be a heterodyne multichannel receiver including 7mm, 3mm, 1.3mm and (presumably) 0.8mm channel. Two low frequency channels will be based on HEMT amplifiers, while for the high frequencies superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receivers will be utilized. The VLBI instrument will have a multi frequency capability allowing simultaneous observation using several channels. This mode has a high potential for improving of black hole event horizon observations due to phase transferring capabilities. The multi frequency observation will be provided by a signal split in the input optics and by back-end capabilities.

Travelling wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) made from highly non-linear reactive superconducting thin films have been demonstrated to be a potentially viable quantum-noise-limited amplifier technology for various fundamental physics platforms, including microwave/mm/sub-mm astronomy, dark matter search experiments, neutrino mass experiments, and qubit readout. We present a kinetic inductance TWPA consisting of a patterned titanium nitride film on a sapphire substrate, which comprises a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with a continuous, smoothed periodic loading (PL) structure that modulates the characteristic impedance of the CPW in a double sinusoidal fashion. This double sinusoidal modulation creates much stronger dispersion features than a conventional PL design, which allows for phase matching and pump harmonic suppression over a much shorter transmission length, potentially leading to reduced losses. In this paper, we shall discuss in detail the design of our TWPA and present the predicted gain-bandwidth characteristics from electromagnetic simulations.

Planetary atmospheres are rich in molecular species with spectral rotational and vibrational signatures in the millimeter and submillimeter frequency range. In particular, the 520-680 GHz frequency ranges offers access to a various amount of minor and major constituents of the atmosphere, including water vapour (H2O), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), carbon monosulfide (CS) and their isotopes to derive temperature and wind velocities [1] or surface emissivity [2]. Recently, we have developed and manufactured the 560 GHz subharmonic mixer, showing the excellent performances in the 525-625 GHz frequency region with mixer noise temperature of about 870 K, around 30hf/kB [3]. In this paper we present an update and extensive measurement showing that the mixer’s RF bandwidth can be extended up to 25% keeping the excellent performances. Assessment study of the radiometer modelling and Schottky junction parameter deviations will be presented. A best fit of the junction I/V allows to derive the main diode DC parameters retrofitted to analytical models such as [4]. We discuss efforts on implementation of large bandwidth receiver system, including solutions for local power across large bandwidth [5] or in complex systems using simultaneous molecular line observations [6].

The ALMA Band 9 (600–720 GHz) receiver is a dual channel heterodyne system capable of detecting orthogonally polarized signals using a wire grid. The light entering the front end is refocused with a compact arrangement of mirrors, which is fully contained within the cartridge. The cross–polar performance of existing Band 9 receivers does not meet the requirements specified for the ALMA channels, i.e. a cross-polar level lower than -23 dB. Moreover, this channel shows a relatively large beam squint, which makes this channel not suitable for extended-source polarimetry. Within the framework of ESO “Advanced Study for Upgrades of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA)”, we analyze the possibility of improving cross-polarization performance by removing the grid and using an OMT to separate the two orthogonal polarizations. We set up the electromagnetic model of the optics to simulate its performance with and without the grid. The results of the simulations are compared with measurements. Another limiting factor for polarimetric observations in ALMA is the beam squint, which translates directly into a gradient of Stokes Q error across the field of view. The OMT-based ALMA bands show a beam squint within 2% of the FWHM, whereas band with wire grids show a much larger scatter. We investigate what causes the scatter in Band 9, trying to understand if it could be improved by reducing tolerances of the grid mounting or if it is a limiting factor related to aberrations in the current optics.

Supra-THz heterodyne mixers generally have higher conversion loss compared to the millimetre-wave mixers. Hence, the overall receiver noise temperature becomes increasingly dominated by the first-stage semiconductor low noise amplifier (LNA), which still struggles to achieve quantum-limited noise performance. Here, we aim to develop a Josephson junction travelling wave parametric amplifier (JTWPA) that can achieve high gain over broad bandwidth but with better noise performance to replace these Intermediate Frequency (IF) amplifiers. JTWPAs are typically considered not suitable for astronomical receivers due to their low power handling capability. However, the critical current of the Josephson junctions (JJ) can be easily engineered to match the output power of the front-end detectors. Nevertheless, this may results in the requirement of a higher number of JJs as the junction inductance is in reverse relation with the critical current. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to explore the different design parameters required for developing a JTWPA with a dynamic range compatible for readout a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer, as an example. Here, we present two JTWPA models that are suitable for the objective, one requiring 3,142 Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb junctions with a maximum gain of 23 dB, and the other with a lower gain at 16 dB but requires only 1,317 JJs. We then compare the SIS receiver noise performance utilising these JTWPAs with that of using a conventional high gain High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) amplifier. We show that we can improve the receiver sensitivity significantly by either cascading two 23 dB gain JTWPA or using a combination of a 16 dB gain JTWPA and a HEMT amplifier. We conclude that the former option more suitable for large detector array applications as it completely replaces the high heat dissipation HEMT amplifiers; while the latter option is favourable at this stage for low pixel count application as it is easier to fabricate a lower number of junctions JTWPA.

Auto-Correlation Spectral Imaging System (ACSIS) is an IF, correlation, reduction, and display system for the submillimeter telescope James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). It can produce calibrated spectral images in real time and enables rapid imaging of large areas of the sky over a wide spectral range or at high resolution from up to 16 receiver feeds. Now more than 20 years old, the original 8-10GHz synthesizers for the down conversion module are obsolete and no longer available. Due to the hardware changes in the new 4-10GHz model, an interface circuit is needed to shorten the rise time of the serial clock signal. Further upgrades can better support wide IF band 2-12GHz receiver applications, such as Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) band-6 receivers. This paper discusses the observatory’s development of a new correlator that utilizes several existing electronics to support current and future receivers.

Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is the most sensitive single-dish telescope in the world. In the past few years since it was put into use, there have been some relatively important scientific research achievements in the fields of pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts (FRB). In the future, there may also be plans to build the FAST Array (FASTA) project, which will build 5 more telescopes similar to the aperture of the FAST in 5 different locations, and its ultra-high sensitivity will be benefited from the length of the baseline. With the upgrade of the project, the receiver system will be further upgraded. We plan to develop a digital backend of Phased Array Feed (PAF) with no less than 330 sampling units on the 1.2 diameter focal plane, the instantaneous bandwidth covers 0.6 to 1.8GHz, the system noise temperature is not higher than 25K, and simultaneous implement the real-time 90*2 digital beamforming.

The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I joint Tenerife) experiment combines the operation of two radio-telescopes and three instruments working in the microwave bands 10–20 GHz, 26–36 GHz and 35–47 GHz at the Teide Observatory, Tenerife, and has already been presented in previous SPIE meetings (Hoyland, R. J. et al, 2012; Rubi˜no-Mart´ın et al., 2012). The Cosmology group at the IAC have designed a new upgrade to the MFI instrument in the band 10–20 GHz. The aim of the QUIJOTE telescopes is to characterise the polarised emission of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), as well as galactic and extra-galactic sources, at medium and large angular scales. This MFI2 will continue the survey at even higher sensitivity levels. The MFI2 project led by the Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias (IAC) consists of five polarimeters, three of them operating in the sub-band 10–15 GHz, and two in the sub-band 15–20 GHz. The MFI2 instrument is expected to be a full two–three times more sensitive than the former MFI. The microwave complex correlator design has been replaced by a simple correlator design with a digital back-end based on the latest Xilinx FPGAs (ZCU111). During the first half of 2019 the manufacture of the new cryostat was completed and since then the opto-mechanical components have been designed and manufactured. It is expected that the cryogenic front-end will be completed by the end of 2022 along with the FPGA acquisition and observing system. This digital system has been employed to be more robust against stray ground-based and satellite interference, having a frequency resolution of 1 MHz