arXiv subjects

Darshan A. Patel

Publications and source records attributed to Darshan A. Patel.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

CCAT: The Prime-Cam Instrument for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope -- Overview and Status

Prime-Cam is a first-generation science instrument for the CCAT Observatory's six-meter aperture Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), under construction at an elevation of 5600 m on Cerro Chajnantor in Chile's Atacama Desert. Prime-Cam will deliver over ten times greater mapping speed at submillimeter wavelengths than current facilities for unprecedented broadband and spectroscopic measurements in windows between 1.4 -- 0.3 mm (220 -- 850 GHz). When fully populated, Prime-Cam will field over 100,000 kinetic inductance detectors across seven independently optimized instrument modules. With Prime-Cam, the CCAT Collaboration will address a suite of science goals, from Big Bang cosmology, to galaxy evolution and star formation over cosmic time. Prime-Cam is scheduled for integration in FYST in late 2026, followed by a year of early science observations with the 280 and 350 GHz instrument modules. We discuss the design and in-lab testing of the 1.8-m diameter Prime-Cam receiver and 280 GHz instrument module, and give an update on deployment status and early science plans.

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arXiv2026

CCAT: Design, Implementation, and Testing of a System to Read Out over 10,000 280 GHz KIDs using RFSoC Electronics

Over the past decade, kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) have emerged as a viable superconducting technology for astrophysics at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. KIDs spanning 210 - 850 GHz across seven instrument modules will be deployed in the Prime-Cam instrument of CCAT Observatory's Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope at an elevation of 5600 m on Cerro Chajnantor in Chile's Atacama Desert. The natural frequency-division multiplexed readout of KIDs allows hundreds of detectors to be coupled to a single radio frequency (RF) transmission line, but requires sophisticated warm readout electronics. The FPGA-based Xilinx ZCU111 radio frequency system on chip (RFSoC) offers a promising and flexible solution to the challenge of warm readout. CCAT uses custom packaged RFSoCs to read out KIDs in the Prime-Cam instrument. Each RFSoC can simultaneously read out four RF channels with up to 1,000 detectors spanning a 512 MHz bandwidth per channel using the current firmware. We use five RFSoCs to read out the >10,000 KIDs in the broadband 280 GHz instrument module. Here, we describe and demonstrate the readout hardware, software and pipeline for the RFSoC system. We present a detector position map of the 280 GHz module focal plane and preliminary averaged spectral responses of a small subset of detectors from the TiN and first Al arrays. These measurements demonstrate our ability to simultaneously readout thousands of detectors, validate the end-to-end performance of the readout and optical systems, and represent a critical step toward reading out the ~100,000 KIDs in Prime-Cam in its future full capacity configuration.

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arXiv2026

CCAT: Design and Characterization of the 350 GHz Instrument Module

The CCAT Collaboration's Prime-Cam instrument will soon be deployed to the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) in Chile's Atacama Desert. Featuring prominently in Prime-Cam's calibration and early science observations will be the 350 GHz instrument module, a broadband camera that will field more than 10,000 microwave kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) across three detector arrays. Forecasts show this module will be capable of making the most sensitive to-date measurements of polarized dust emission over a large fraction of the sky at this frequency, enabling new galactic polarization science and improved understanding of cosmological foregrounds. In this work we discuss the design of the 350 GHz instrument module, covering aspects of the optics, readout, and detector arrays. We then report on the results of in-lab testing of the fully-integrated module, achieving stable cryogenic performance with a 100 mK focal plane, high detector yield, and a passband comparable to designed specifications. Upon completion of these tests, this module was shipped to the telescope site in Chile for integration in Prime-Cam.

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arXiv2026

CCAT: Optical Responsivity, Noise, and Readout Optimization of KIDs for Prime-Cam

The Prime-Cam instrument on the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) at the CCAT Observatory will conduct sensitive millimeter to submillimeter surveys for a range of astrophysical and cosmological sciences. Prime-Cam will use kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) sensitive to multiple frequency bands spanning 280-850 GHz. With over 100,000 sensors under development, these KID arrays will soon form the largest submillimeter focal plane ever built. With fixed microwave tones probing amplitude and phase modulations in the KIDs due to incoming radiation, challenges arise in determining the optimal readout settings, especially under varying atmospheric loading. Realizing the science goals of FYST requires operating the detectors at optimal performance and determining accurate responsivities, which depend on readout tone placement and power. To address these challenges, we present laboratory measurements of sample pixels from the 280 GHz TiN and Al arrays using a blackbody cold load to simulate observing conditions. These measurements probe detector responsivity and noise across varying optical loading, tone power, and tone placement, providing the foundation to guide in situ calibration and operation of the >100,000 KIDs. We characterize detector sensitivity via the Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) as a function of readout tone power and placement, and measure the impact of detuning due to varying optical power on the NEP. Our test setup and methodology will inform the commissioning of Prime-Cam, in situ detector calibration procedures, the cadence of probe tone resetting, and potential design refinements for future arrays, supporting FYST's planned first light in 2026.

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arXiv2026

CCAT: Magnetic Sensitivity Measurements of Kinetic Inductance Detectors

The CCAT Observatory is a ground-based submillimeter to millimeter experiment located on Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5,600 meters. CCAT features the 6-meter Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), which will cover frequency bands from 210 GHz to 850 GHz using its first-generation science instrument, Prime-Cam. The detectors used in Prime-Cam are feedhorn-coupled, lumped-element superconducting microwave kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). The telescope will perform wide-area surveys at speeds on the order of degrees per second. During telescope operation, the KIDs are exposed to changes in the magnetic field caused by the telescope's movement through Earth's magnetic field and internal sources within the telescope. We present and compare measurements of the magnetic sensitivity of three different CCAT KID designs at 100 mK. The measurements are conducted in a dilution refrigerator (DR) with a set of room temperature Helmholtz coils positioned around the DR. We discuss the implications of these results for CCAT field operations.

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arXiv2025

CCAT: Mod-Cam Cryogenic Performance and its Impact on 280 GHz KID Array Noise

The CCAT Observatory's Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) is designed to observe submillimeter astronomical signals with high precision, using receivers fielding state-of-the-art kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays. Mod-Cam, a first-light instrument for FYST, serves as a testbed for instrument module characterization, including detailed evaluation of thermal behavior under operating conditions prior to deploying modules in the larger Prime-Cam instrument. Prime-Cam is a first generation multi-band, wide-field camera for FYST, designed to field up to seven instrument modules and provide unprecedented sensitivity across a broad frequency range. We present results from two key laboratory characterizations: an "optically open" cooldown to validate the overall thermal performance of the cryostat, and a "cold load" cooldown to measure the effect of focal plane temperature stability on detector noise. During the optically open test, we achieved stable base temperatures of 1.5 K on the 1 K stage and 85 mK at the detector stage. In the cold load configuration, we measured a detector focal plane RMS temperature stability of 3.2e-5 K. From this stability measurement, we demonstrate that the equivalent power from focal plane thermal fluctuations is only 0.0040% of a 5pW incident photon power for aluminum detectors and 0.0023% for titanium-nitride detectors, a negligible level for CCAT science goals. This highlights the success of the cryogenic system design and thermal management.

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