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We present a simple analytical model describing multiple reflections in dielectric and optically active waveplates, for both normal and slant incidence, including absorption. We compute from first principles the transmission and reflection Mueller matrices of the waveplate. The model is used to simulate the performance of a Stokes polarimeter for mm-waves, in the framework of current attempts to precisely measure the linear polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We study the spectral response of these optical devices, taking into account band and angle averaging effects and confirm the presence of a much richer spectral dependence than in an ideal phase retarder. We also present the matrix elements for the reflection matrix, which is useful to estimate systematic effects in some polarimeter configurations. The formulas we have derived can be used to quickly simulate the performance of future CMB polarimeters.

We consider properties of dichroic antenna arrays on a silicon substrate with integrated cold-electron bolometers to detect radiation at frequencies of 210 and 240 GHz. This frequency range is widely used in cosmic microwave background experiments in space, balloon, and ground-based missions such as BICEP Array, LSPE, LiteBIRD, QUBIC, Simons Observatory, and AliCPT. As a direct radiation detector, we use cold-electron bolometers, which have high sensitivity and a wide operating frequency range, as well as immunity to spurious cosmic rays. Their other advantages are the compact size of the order of a few micrometers and the effect of direct electron cooling, which can improve sensitivity in typical closed-loop cycle 3 He cryostats for space applications. We study a novel concept of cold-electron bolometers with two SIN tunnel junctions and one SN contact. The amplitude–frequency characteristics measured with YBCO Josephson Junction oscillators show narrow peaks at 205 GHz for the 210 GHz array and at 225 GHz for the 240 GHz array; the separation of these two frequency bands is clearly visible. The noise equivalent power level at an operating point in the current bias mode is 5 × 10 −16 W/√Hz.

We present the results of the experimental and theoretical study of the resonant properties and noise of a single cell of a receiving system based on cold-electron bolometers (CEB) with a double-folded slot antenna and coplanar lines. The system was designed to receive signals at 220/240 GHz frequencies with a 5% bandwidth. In measurements, we used the samples of the double-folded slot antennas with slot lengths of 162 um and coplanar line lengths from 185 to 360 um. Measurements of the resonance properties of CEB located at 0.3 K cryostat plate were carried out using a generator based on a high-temperature YBCO Josephson junction located inside the same cryostat at 4 K plate. This arrangement made it possible to obtain smooth amplitude-frequency characteristics with a clearly defined peak of a 15–21 GHz bandwidth at different frequencies. Based on these results, 2-D array of double-folded slot antennas with CEBs as 220/240 GHz LSPE channel prototype was calculated.The absorption efficiency of the array has reached 81% and 77% for 220 and 240 GHz channels, respectively.

A new custom cryogen-free dilution refrigerator with base temperature of 17 mK and cooling power of 120 μW@100mK was developed in collaboration with the University of Roma, Italy; and Janis Research Company, Inc. (USA). The design is specifically geared for integrating with an existing telescope on alt-azimuth mount. The first lab-based test results show that the system is maintaining its design specifications in its tilted position up to as much as −20 degree and +50 degree from the cryostat vertical axis.

The Polarized Instrument for Long-wavelength Observation of the Tenuous interstellar medium ( PILOT ) is a balloon-borne experiment that aims to measure the polarized emission of thermal dust at a wavelength of 240µm (1.2 THz). The PILOT experiment flew from Timmins, Ontario, Canada in 2015 and 2019 and from Alice Springs, Australia in April 2017. The in-flight performance of the instrument during the second flight was described in [ 1 ]. In this paper, we present data processing steps that were not presented in [ 1 ] and that we have recently implemented to correct for several remaining instrumental effects. The additional data processing concerns corrections related to detector cross-talk and readout circuit memory effects, and leakage from total intensity to polarization. We illustrate the above effects and the performance of our corrections using data obtained during the third flight of PILOT , but the methods used to assess the impact of these effects on the final science-ready data, and our strategies for correcting them will be applied to all PILOT data. We show that the above corrections, and in particular that for the intensity to polarization leakage, which is most critical for accurate polarization measurements with PILOT , are accurate to better than 0.4% as measured on Jupiter during flight#3.

The LiteBIRD mission is a JAXA strategic L-class mission for all sky CMB surveys which will be launched in the 2020s. The main target of the mission is the detection of primordial gravitational waves with a sensitivity ofthe tensor-to-scalar ratio {\\delta}r <0.001. The polarization modulator unit (PMU) represents a critical and powerful component to suppress 1/f noise contribution and mitigate systematic uncertainties induced by detector gain drift, both for the high-frequency telescope (HFT) and for the mid-frequency telescope (MFT). Each PMUs based on a continuously-rotating transmissive half-wave plate (HWP) held by a superconducting magnetic bearing in a 5K environment. In this proceeding we will present the design and expected performance of the LiteBIRD PMUs and testing performed on every PMU subsystem with a room-temperature rotating disk used as a stand-in for the cryogenic HWP rotor.

OLIMPO is a proposed Antarctic balloon-borne Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) imager to study gas dynamics associated with structure formation along with the properties of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) residing in the connective filaments. During a 25 day flight OLIMPO will image a total of 10 z~0.05 galaxy clusters and 8 bridges at 145, 250, 365, and 460 GHz at an angular resolution of 1.0'-3.3'. The maps will be significantly deeper than those planned from CMB-S4 and CCAT-P, and will have excellent fidelity to the large angular scales of our low-z targets, which are difficult to probe from the ground. In combination with X-ray data from eROSITA and XRISM we will transform our current static view of galaxy clusters into a full dynamic picture by measuring the internal intra-cluster medium (ICM) velocity structure with the kinematic SZE, X-ray spectroscopy, and the power spectrum of ICM fluctuations. Radio observations from ASKAP and MeerKAT will be used to better understand the connection between ICM turbulence and shocks with the relativistic plasma. Beyond the cluster boundary, we will combine thermal SZE maps from OLIMPO with X-ray imaging from eROSITA to measure the thermodynamics of the WHIM residing in filaments, providing a better understanding of its properties and its contribution to the total baryon budget.

We analyze the effect of polarized diffuse emission in the calibration of wide-beam mm-wave polarimeters, when using the Crab Nebula as a reference source for both polarized brightness and polarization angle. We show that, for CMB polarization experiments aiming at detecting B-mode in a scenario with a tensor to scalar ratio \\(r \\sim 0.001\\), wide (a few degrees in diameter), precise (\\(\\sigma_Q\\) , \\(\\sigma_U\\) \\(\\sim\\) 20 $\\mu$$K_{CMB}\\( arcmin), high angular resolution (\\)< \\mathrm{FWHM}$) reference maps are needed to properly take into account the effects of diffuse polarized emission and avoid significant bias in the calibration.

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is a relict of the early universe. Its perfect 2.725K blackbody spectrum demonstrates that the universe underwent a hot, ionized early phase; its anisotropy (about 80 \\mu K rms) provides strong evidence for the presence of photon-matter oscillations in the primeval plasma, shaping the initial phase of the formation of structures; its polarization state (about 3 \\mu K rms), and in particular its rotational component (less than 0.1 \\mu K rms) might allow to study the inflation process in the very early universe, and the physics of extremely high energies, impossible to reach with accelerators. The CMB is observed by means of microwave and mm-wave telescopes, and its measurements drove the development of ultra-sensitive bolometric detectors, sophisticated modulators, and advanced cryogenic and space technologies. Here we focus on the new frontiers of CMB research: the precision measurements of its linear polarization state, at large and intermediate angular scales, and the measurement of the inverse-Compton effect of CMB photons crossing clusters of Galaxies. In this framework, we will describe the formidable experimental challenges faced by ground-based, near-space and space experiments, using large arrays of detectors. We will show that sensitivity and mapping speed improvement obtained with these arrays must be accompanied by a corresponding reduction of systematic effects (especially for CMB polarimeters), and by improved knowledge of foreground emission, to fully exploit the huge scientific potential of these missions.

LiteBIRD, a forthcoming satellite mission, aims to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) across the entire sky. The experiment will employ three telescopes, Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers and rotating Half-Wave Plates (HWPs) at cryogenic temperatures to ensure high sensitivity and systematic effects mitigation. This study is focused on the Mid- and High-Frequency Telescopes (MHFT), which will use rotating metal mesh HWPs. We investigate how power variations due to HWP differential emissivity and transmittance combine with TES nonlinear responsivity, resulting in an effective instrumental polarization. We present the results of simulations for the current HWP design, modeling the TES deviation from linearity as a second-order response. We quantify the level of acceptable residual nonlinearity assuming the mission requirement on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, \\(\\delta r < 0.001\\). Moreover, we provide an accuracy requirement on the measurement of TES responsivity nonlinearity level for MHFT channels. Lastly, we present possible mitigation methods that will be developed in future studies.