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arXiv · 1603.02963

Optical Demonstration of THz, Dual-Polarization Sensitive Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors

B. Dober·J. A. Austermann·J. A. Beall·D. Becker·G. Che·H. M. Cho·M. Devlin·S. M. Duff·N. Galitzki·J. Gao·C. Groppi·G. C. Hilton·J. Hubmayr·K. D. Irwin·C. M. McKenney·D. Li·N. Lourie·P. Mauskopf·M. R. Vissers·Y. Wang
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Abstract

The next generation BLAST experiment (BLAST-TNG) is a suborbital balloon payload that seeks to map polarized dust emission in the 250 $μ$m, 350 $μ$m and 500 $μ$m wavebands. The instrument utilizes a stepped half-wave plate to reduce systematics. The general requirement of the detectors is that they are photon-noise-limited and dual-polarization sensitive. To achieve this goal, we are developing three monolithic arrays of cryogenic sensors, one for each waveband. Each array is feedhorn-coupled and each spatial pixel consists of two orthogonally spaced polarization-sensitive microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) fabricated from a Ti/TiN multilayer film. In previous work, we demonstrated photon-noise-limited sensitivity in 250 $μ$m waveband single polarization devices. In this work, we present the first results of dual-polarization sensitive MKIDs at 250 $μ$m.

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B. Dober, J. A. Austermann, J. A. Beall, D. Becker, G. Che, H. M. Cho, M. Devlin, S. M. Duff, N. Galitzki, J. Gao, C. Groppi, G. C. Hilton, J. Hubmayr, K. D. Irwin, C. M. McKenney, D. Li, N. Lourie, P. Mauskopf, M. R. Vissers, Y. Wang. 2016-03-09. Optical Demonstration of THz, Dual-Polarization Sensitive Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-015-1434-3

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