Design and Performance of the First BICEP Array Receiver

• Published in: Journal of Low Temperature Physics
• Main Authors: Schillaci, A., Ade, P. A. R., Ahmed, Z., Amiri, M., Barkats, D., Basu Thakur, R., Bischoff, C. A., Bock, J. J., Boenish, H., Bullock, E., Buza, V., Cheshire, J., Connors, J., Cornelison, J., Crumrine, M., Cukierman, A., Dierickx, M., Duband, L., Fatigoni, S., Filippini, J. P., Hall, G., Halpern, M., Harrison, S., Henderson, S., Hildebrandt, S. R., Hilton, G. C., Hui, H., Irwin, K. D., Kang, J., Karkare, K. S., Karpel, E., Kefeli, S., Kovac, J. M., Kuo, C. L., Lau, K., Megerian, K. G., Moncelsi, L., Namikawa, T., Nguyen, H. T., O'Brient, R., Palladino, S., Precup, N., Prouve, T., Pryke, C., Racine, B., Reintsema, C. D., Richter, S., Schmitt, B. L., Schwarz, R., Sheehy, C. D., Soliman, A., St. Germaine, T., Steinbach, B., Sudiwala, R. V., Thompson, K. L., Tucker, C., Turner, A. D., Umiltà , C., Vieregg, A. G., Wandui, A., Weber, A. C., Wiebe, D. V., Willmert, J., Wu, W. L. K., Yang, E., Yoon, K. W., Young, E., Yu, C., Zhang, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer 2020
• Subjects: Cosmology; B-mode polarization; Inflation; CMB; BICEP Array; Austral; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-020-02394-6

Branches of cosmic inflationary models, such as slow-roll inflation, predict a background of primordial gravitational waves that imprints a unique odd-parity "B-mode" pattern in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at amplitudes that are within experimental reach. The BICEP/Keck (BK) experiment targets this primordial signature, the amplitude of which is parameterized by the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, by observing the polarized microwave sky through the exceptionally clean and stable atmosphere at the South Pole. B-mode measurements require an instrument with exquisite sensitivity, tight control of systematics, and wide frequency coverage to disentangle the primordial signal from the Galactic foregrounds. BICEP Array represents the most recent stage of the BK program and comprises four BICEP3-class receivers observing at 30/40, 95, 150 and 220/270 GHz. The 30/40 GHz receiver will be deployed at the South Pole during the 2019/2020 austral summer. After 3 full years of observations with 30,000+ detectors, BICEP Array will measure primordial gravitational waves to a precision σ(r) between 0.002 and 0.004, depending on foreground complexity and the degree of lensing removal. In this paper, we give an overview of the instrument, highlighting the design features in terms of cryogenics, magnetic shielding, detectors and readout architecture as well as reporting on the integration and tests that are ongoing with the first receiver at 30/40 GHz. © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Received 04 September 2019; Accepted 05 February 2020; Published 17 February 2020. The BICEP/Keck project has been made possible through a series of Grants from the National Science Foundation including 0742818, 0742592, 1044978, 1110087, 1145172, 1145143, 1145248, 1639040, 1638957, 1638978, 1638970, and 1726917 and by the Keck Foundation. The development of antenna-coupled detector technology was supported by the JPL Research and Technology Development Fund and NASA Grants 06-ARPA206-0040, 10-SAT10-0017, 12-SAT12-0031, 14-SAT14-0009 and ...