Feedhorn-coupled TES polarimeter camera modules at 150 GHz for CMB polarization measurements with SPTpol

• Published in: SPIE Proceedings, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
• Main Authors: Holland, Wayne S., Henning, J. W., Ade, Peter A. R., Aird, K. A., Austermann, J. E., Beall, J. A., Becker, D., Benson, B. A., Bleem, L. E., Britton, J., Carlstrom, J. E., Chang, C. L., Cho, H.-M., Crawford, T. M., Crites, A. T., Datesman, A., de Haan, T., Dobbs, M A., Everett, W., Ewall-Wice, A., George, E. M., Halverson, N. W., Harrington, N., Hilton, G. C., Holzapfel, W. L., Hubmayr, J., Irwin, K. D., Karfunkle, M., Keisler, R., Kennedy, J., Lee, A. T., Leitch, E., Li, D., Lueker, M., Marrone, D. P., McMahon, J. J., Mehl, J., Meyer, S. S., Montgomery, J., Montroy, T. E., Nagy, J., Natoli, T., Nibarger, J. P., Niemack, M. D., Novosad, V., Padin, S., Pryke, C., Reichardt, C. L., Ruhl, J. E., Saliwanchik, B. R.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: The International Society for Optical Engineering 2012
• Subjects: QC Physics; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/46767/; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.927172

The SPTpol camera is a dichroic polarimetric receiver at 90 and 150 GHz. Deployed in January 2012 on the South Pole Telescope (SPT), SPTpol is looking for faint polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The camera consists of 180 individual Transition Edge Sensor (TES) polarimeters at 90 GHz and seven 84-polarimeter camera modules (a total of 588 polarimeters) at 150 GHz. We present the design, dark characterization, and in-lab optical properties of the 150 GHz camera modules. The modules consist of photolithographed arrays of TES polarimeters coupled to silicon platelet arrays of corrugated feedhorns, both of which are fabricated at NIST-Boulder. In addition to mounting hardware and RF shielding, each module also contains a set of passive readout electronics for digital frequency-domain multiplexing. A single module, therefore, is fully functional as a miniature focal plane and can be tested independently. Across the modules tested before deployment, the detectors average a critical temperature of 478 mK, normal resistance R N of 1.2Ω , unloaded saturation power of 22.5 pW, (detector-only) optical efficiency of ~ 90%, and have electrothermal time constants < 1 ms in transition