QUaD: A High-Resolution Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimeter

• Main Authors: Hinderks, J., Ade, P.A.R., Bock, J., Bowden, M.L., Cahill, G., Carlstrom, J.E., Castro, P.G., Church, S., Culverhouse, T., Friedman, R., Ganga, K., Gear, W.K., Gupta, S., Harris, J., Haynes, V., Keating, B.G., Kovac, J., Kirby, E., Lange, A.E., Leitch, E., Mallie, O.E., Melhuish, S., Memari, Y., Murphy, J.Anthony, Orlando, A., Schwarz, R., O'Sullivan, Créidhe, Piccirillo, L., Pryke, C., Rajguru, N., Rusholme, B., Taylor, A.N., Thompson, K.L., Tucker, C., Turner, A.H., Wu, E.Y.S., Zemcov, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Astronomical Society 2009
• Subjects: Experimental Physics; Austral; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/2096/; https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/2096/1/AM_Quad_a_High_Res.pdf

We describe the QUaD experiment, a millimeter-wavelength polarimeter designed to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from a site at the South Pole. The experiment comprises a 2.64 m Cassegrain telescope equipped with a cryogenically cooled receiver containing an array of 62 polarization-sensitive bolometers. The focal plane contains pixels at two different frequency bands, 100 GHz and 150 GHz, with angular resolutions of 5 and 3.5, respectively. The high angular resolution allows observation of CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies over a wide range of scales. The instrument commenced operation in early 2005 and collected science data during three successive Austral winter seasons of observation.