arXiv subjects

Lionel Duband

Publications and source records attributed to Lionel Duband.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

BICEP/Keck XXI: Constraints on Early-Universe Parity Violation from Multipole-Dependent Birefringence

We present the first constraints on multipole-dependent cosmic birefringence using CMB polarization data from the BK18 dataset, which combines observations from BICEP2, Keck Array, and BICEP3 at frequencies of 95, 150, and 220 GHz. Photon coupling to an axion-like field leads to the rotation of CMB polarization, inducing non-zero EB cross-correlations. We show that a multipole-dependent rotation beta(l) imprints a distinct signature in the polarization spectra that can be constrained. Specifically, we consider an Early Dark Energy (EDE) scenario in which a pseudoscalar field couples to photons through a Chern-Simons interaction, generating a polarization rotation with multipole dependence. We introduce a phenomenological beta(l) as a step function, obtaining constraints on the step function size consistent with zero, with uncertainties less than 0.15 degrees (68% CL). In addition, using multi-frequency EE, BB, and EB cross-spectra, along with robust BICEP/Keck foreground treatment and likelihood framework, we derive constraints on the axion-photon coupling amplitude g for several choices of EDE parameters. For the baseline best-fit value f_{EDE} = 0.087 from the Planck 2018 analysis, we obtain g = 0.11 +/- 0.37 (68% CL), consistent with previous limits.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Calibration Measurements of the BICEP3 and BICEP Array CMB Polarimeters from 2017 to 2024

The BICEP3 and BICEP Array polarimeters are small-aperture refracting telescopes located at the South Pole designed to measure primordial gravitational wave signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization, predicted by inflation. Constraining the inflationary signal requires not only excellent sensitivity, but also careful control of instrumental systematics. Both instruments use antenna-coupled orthogonally polarized detector pairs, and the polarized sky signal is reconstructed by taking the difference in each detector pair. As a result, the differential response between detectors within a pair becomes an important systematic effect we must control. Additionally, mapping the intensity and polarization response in regions away from the main beam can inform how sidelobe levels affect CMB measurements. Extensive calibration measurements are taken in situ every austral summer for control of instrumental systematics and instrument characterisation. In this work, we detail the set of beam calibration measurements that we conduct on the BICEP receivers, from deep measurements of main beam response to polarized beam response and sidelobe mapping. We discuss the impact of these measurements for instrumental systematics studies and design choices for future CMB receivers.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Life Cycle Assessment of the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is the high-resolution X-ray spectrometer to fly on board the Athena Space Observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is being developed by an international Consortium led by France, involving twelve ESA member states, plus the United States. It is a cryogenic instrument, involving state of the art technology, such as micro-calorimeters, to be read out by low noise electronics. As the instrument was undergoing its system requirement review (in 2022), a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to estimate the environmental impacts associated with the development of the sub-systems that were under the responsibility of the X-IFU Consortium. The assessment included the supply, manufacturing and testing of sub systems, as well as involved logistics and manpower. We find that the most significant environmental impacts arise from testing activities, which is related to energy consumption in clean rooms, office work, which is related to energy consumption in office buildings, and instrument manufacturing, which is related to the use of mineral and metal resources. Furthermore, business travels is another area of concern, despite the policy to reduced flying adopted by the Consortium. As the instrument is now being redesigned to fit within the new boundaries set by ESA, the LCA will be updated, with a focus on the hot spots identified in the first iteration. The new configuration, consolidated in 2023, is significantly different from the previously studied version and is marked by an increase of the perimeter of responsibility for the Consortium. This will need to be folded in the updated LCA, keeping the ambition to reduce the environmental footprint of X-IFU, while complying with its stringent requirements in terms of performance and risk management.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase

The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer, studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory, a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), it aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over an hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (including the X-IFU cryostat and the cooling chain), due to an unanticipated cost overrun of Athena. In this paper, after illustrating the breakthrough capabilities of the X-IFU, we describe the instrument as presented at its SRR, browsing through all the subsystems and associated requirements. We then show the instrument budgets, with a particular emphasis on the anticipated budgets of some of its key performance parameters. Finally we briefly discuss on the ongoing key technology demonstration activities, the calibration and the activities foreseen in the X-IFU Instrument Science Center, and touch on communication and outreach activities, the consortium organisation, and finally on the life cycle assessment of X-IFU aiming at minimising the environmental footprint, associated with the development of the instrument. Thanks to the studies conducted so far on X-IFU, it is expected that along the design-to-cost exercise requested by ESA, the X-IFU will maintain flagship capabilities in spatially resolved high resolution X-ray spectroscopy, enabling most of the original X-IFU related scientific objectives of the Athena mission to be retained. (abridged).

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arXiv2021

Plastic Laminate Antireflective Coatings for Millimeter-wave Optics in BICEP Array

The BICEP/Keck series of experiments target the Cosmic Microwave Background at degree-scale resolution from the South Pole. Over the next few years, the "Stage-3" BICEP Array (BA) telescope will improve the program's frequency coverage and sensitivity to primordial B-mode polarization by an order of magnitude. The first receiver in the array, BA1, began observing at 30/40 GHz in early 2020. The next two receivers, BA2 and BA3, are currently being assembled and will map the southern sky at frequencies ranging from 95 GHz to 150 GHz. Common to all BA receivers is a refractive, on-axis, cryogenic optical design that focuses microwave radiation onto a focal plane populated with antenna-coupled bolometers. High-performance antireflective coatings up to 760 mm in aperture are needed for each element in the optical chain, and must withstand repeated thermal cycles down to 4 K. Here we present the design and fabrication of the 30/40 GHz anti-reflection coatings for the recently deployed BA1 receiver, then discuss laboratory measurements of their reflectance. We review the lamination method for these single- and dual-layer plastic coatings with indices matched to various polyethylene, nylon and alumina optics. We also describe ongoing efforts to optimize coatings for the next BA cryostats, which may inform technological choices for future Small-Aperture Telescopes of the CMB "Stage 4" experiment.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

B-BOP, the SPICA Imaging Polarimeter

We present the B-BOP instrument, a polarimetric camera on board the future ESA-JAXA SPICA far-infrared space observatory. B-BOP will allow the study of the magnetic field in various astrophysical environments thanks to its unprecedented ability to measure the linear polarization of the submillimeter light. The maps produced by B-BOP will contain not only information on total power, but also on the degree and the angle of polarization, simultaneously in three spectral bands (70, 200 and 350 microns). The B-BOP detectors are ultra-sensitive silicon bolometers that are intrinsically sensitive to polarization. Their NEP is close to 10E-18 W/sqrt(Hz). We will present the optical and thermal architectures of the instrument, we will detail the bolometer design and we will show the expected performances of the instrument based on preliminary lab work.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Sub-Kelvin Cooling for the BICEP Array Project

In the field of astrophysics, the faint signal from distant galaxies and other dim cosmological sources at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths require the use of high-sensitivity experiments. Cryogenics and the use of low-temperature detectors are essential to the accomplishment of the scientific objectives, allowing lower detector noise levels and improved instrument stability. Bolometric detectors are usually cooled to temperatures below 1K, and the constraints on the instrument are stringent, whether the experiment is a space-based platform or a ground-based telescope. The latter are usually deployed in remote and harsh environments such as the South Pole, where maintenance needs to be kept minimal. CEA-SBT has acquired a strong heritage in the development of vibration-free multistage helium-sorption coolers, which can provide cooling down to 200 mK when mounted on a cold stage at temperatures <5K. In this paper, we focus on the development of a three-stage cooler dedicated to the BICEP Array project led by Caltech/JPL, which aims to study the birth of the Universe and specifically the unique B-mode pattern imprinted by primordial gravitational waves on the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Several cryogenic receivers are being developed, each featuring one such helium-sorption cooler operated from a 4K stage cooled by a Cryomech pulse-tube with heat lifts of >1.35W at 4.2K and >36W at 45K. The major challenge of this project is the large masses to be cooled to sub-kelvin temperatures (26 kg at 250mK) and the resulting long cool-down time, which in this novel cooler design is kept to a minimum with the implementation of passive and active thermal links between different temperature stages. A first unit has been sized to provide 230, 70 and 2μW of net heat lifts at the maximum temperatures of 2.8K, 340 and 250mK, respectively, for a minimum duration of 48 hours.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer of the ESA Athena X-ray observatory. Over a field of view of 5' equivalent diameter, it will deliver X-ray spectra from 0.2 to 12 keV with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV up to 7 keV on ~5 arcsecond pixels. The X-IFU is based on a large format array of super-conducting molybdenum-gold Transition Edge Sensors cooled at about 90 mK, each coupled with an absorber made of gold and bismuth with a pitch of 249 microns. A cryogenic anti-coincidence detector located underneath the prime TES array enables the non X-ray background to be reduced. A bath temperature of about 50 mK is obtained by a series of mechanical coolers combining 15K Pulse Tubes, 4K and 2K Joule-Thomson coolers which pre-cool a sub Kelvin cooler made of a 3He sorption cooler coupled with an Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator. Frequency domain multiplexing enables to read out 40 pixels in one single channel. A photon interacting with an absorber leads to a current pulse, amplified by the readout electronics and whose shape is reconstructed on board to recover its energy with high accuracy. The defocusing capability offered by the Athena movable mirror assembly enables the X-IFU to observe the brightest X-ray sources of the sky (up to Crab-like intensities) by spreading the telescope point spread function over hundreds of pixels. Thus the X-IFU delivers low pile-up, high throughput (>50%), and typically 10 eV spectral resolution at 1 Crab intensities, i.e. a factor of 10 or more better than Silicon based X-ray detectors. In this paper, the current X-IFU baseline is presented, together with an assessment of its anticipated performance in terms of spectral resolution, background, and count rate capability. The X-IFU baseline configuration will be subject to a preliminary requirement review that is scheduled at the end of 2018.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

The ArTéMiS wide-field submillimeter camera: preliminary on-sky performances at 350 microns

ArTeMiS is a wide-field submillimeter camera operating at three wavelengths simultaneously (200, 350 and 450 microns). A preliminary version of the instrument equipped with the 350 microns focal plane, has been successfully installed and tested on APEX telescope in Chile during the 2013 and 2014 austral winters. This instrument is developed by CEA (Saclay and Grenoble, France), IAS (France) and University of Manchester (UK) in collaboration with ESO. We introduce the mechanical and optical design, as well as the cryogenics and electronics of the ArTeMiS camera. ArTeMiS detectors are similar to the ones developed for the Herschel PACS photometer but they are adapted to the high optical load encountered at APEX site. Ultimately, ArTeMiS will contain 4 sub-arrays at 200 microns and 2x8 sub-arrays at 350 and 450 microns. We show preliminary lab measurements like the responsivity of the instrument to hot and cold loads illumination and NEP calculation. Details on the on-sky commissioning runs made in 2013 and 2014 at APEX are shown. We used planets (Mars, Saturn, Uranus) to determine the flat-field and to get the flux calibration. A pointing model was established in the first days of the runs. The average relative pointing accuracy is 3 arcsec. The beam at 350 microns has been estimated to be 8.5 arcsec, which is in good agreement with the beam of the 12 m APEX dish. Several observing modes have been tested, like On-The-Fly for beam-maps or large maps, spirals or raster of spirals for compact sources. With this preliminary version of ArTeMiS, we concluded that the mapping speed is already more than 5 times better than the previous 350 microns instrument at APEX. The median NEFD at 350 microns is 600 mJy.s1/2, with best values at 300 mJy.s1/2. The complete instrument with 5760 pixels and optimized settings will be installed during the first half of 2015.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

Operations and Performance of the PACS Instrument 3He Sorption Cooler on board of the Herschel Space Observatory

A 3He sorption cooler produced the operational temperature of 285mK for the bolometer arrays of the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) instrument of the Herschel Space Observatory. This cooler provided a stable hold time between 60 and 73h, depending on the operational conditions of the instrument. The respective hold time could be determined by a simple functional relation established early on in the mission and reliably applied by the scientific mission planning for the entire mission. After exhaustion of the liquid 3He due to the heat input by the detector arrays, the cooler was recycled for the next operational period following a well established automatic procedure. We give an overview of the cooler operations and performance over the entire mission and distinguishing in-between the start conditions for the cooler recycling and the two main modes of PACS photometer operations. As a spin-off, the cooler recycling temperature effects on the Herschel cryostat 4He bath were utilized as an alternative method to dedicated Direct Liquid Helium Content Measurements in determining the lifetime of the liquid Helium coolant.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2010

Absolute polarization angle calibration using polarized diffuse Galactic emission observed by BICEP

We present a method of cross-calibrating the polarization angle of a polarimeter using BICEP Galactic observations. \bicep\ was a ground based experiment using an array of 49 pairs of polarization sensitive bolometers observing from the geographic South Pole at 100 and 150 GHz. The BICEP polarimeter is calibrated to +/-0.01 in cross-polarization and less than +/-0.7 degrees in absolute polarization orientation. BICEP observed the temperature and polarization of the Galactic plane (R.A= 100 degrees ~ 270 degrees and Dec. = -67 degrees ~ -48 degrees). We show that the statistical error in the 100 GHz BICEP Galaxy map can constrain the polarization angle offset of WMAP Wband to 0.6 degrees +\- 1.4 degrees. The expected 1 sigma errors on the polarization angle cross-calibration for Planck or EPIC are 1.3 degrees and 0.3 degrees at 100 and 150 GHz, respectively. We also discuss the expected improvement of the BICEP Galactic field observations with forthcoming BICEP2 and Keck observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2006

The Herschel/PACS 2560 bolometers imaging camera

The development program of the flight model imaging camera for the PACS instrument on-board the Herschel spacecraft is nearing completion. This camera has two channels covering the 60 to 210 microns wavelength range. The focal plane of the short wavelength channel is made of a mosaic of 2x4 3-sides buttable bolometer arrays (16x16 pixels each) for a total of 2048 pixels, while the long wavelength channel has a mosaic of 2 of the same bolometer arrays for a total of 512 pixels. The 10 arrays have been fabricated, individually tested and integrated in the photometer. They represent the first filled arrays of fully collectively built bolometers with a cold multiplexed readout, allowing for a properly sampled coverage of the full instrument field of view. The camera has been fully characterized and the ground calibration campaign will take place after its delivery to the PACS consortium in mid 2006. The bolometers, working at a temperature of 300 mK, have a NEP close to the BLIP limit and an optical bandwidth of 4 to 5 Hz that will permit the mapping of large sky areas. This paper briefly presents the concept and technology of the detectors as well as the cryocooler and the warm electronics. Then we focus on the performances of the integrated focal planes (responsivity, NEP, low frequency noise, bandwidth).

astro-ph↗