Journal Article

BICEP Array: 150 GHz Detector Module Development

Megerian, K. G., Grayson, J. A., Denison, E., Karkare, K. S., Buza, V., Sudiwala, R. V., Goeckner-Wald, N., Filippini, J. P., Singari, B., Hildebrandt, S. R., Kovac, J. M., Dierickx, M., Wiebe, D. V., Palladino, S., Tucker, C., Bischoff, C. A., Amiri, M., Weber, A. C., Umiltà, C., Crumrine, M., Connors, J., Hubmayr, J., Kefeli, S., Yu, C., Yoon, K. W., Beck, D., Reintsema, C. D., Wandui, A., Moncelsi, L., Yang, E., Schillaci, Alessandro, Halal, G., Soliman, A., Turner, A. D., Zhang, C., Cukierman, A., Thompson, K. L., Duband, L., Goldfinger, D., Zhang, S., Prouve, T., Racine, B., Pryke, C., Germaine, T. St, Steinbach, B., Nakato, Y., O’Brient, R., Giannakopoulos, C., Cheshire, J., Bock, J. J., Eiben, M., Halpern, M., Ade, P. A. R., Grimes, P., Lau, K., Lennox, A., Hand, E., Basu Thakur, R., Willmert, J., Hilton, G. C., Wu, W. L. K., Precup, N., Barkats, D., Henderson, S., Schmitt, B. L., Nguyen, H. T., Miller, O. Y., Verges, C., Namikawa, T., Leitch, E. M., Kang, J., Young, E., Zeng, L., Harrison, S., Fatigoni, S., Hui, H., Hall, G., Cornelison, J., Irwin, K. D., Petroff, M., Ahmed, Z., Kuo, C. L., Minutolo, L., Vieregg, A. G.

2023

Overview

The Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP)/Keck (BK) collaboration is currently leading the quest for the highest-sensitivity measurements of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies on a degree scale with a series of cryogenic telescopes, of which BICEP Array (BA) is the latest Stage-3 upgrade with a total of ∼ 32,000 detectors. The instrument comprises 4 receivers spanning 30–270 GHz, with the low-frequency 30/40 GHz deployed to the South Pole Station in late 2019. The full complement of receivers is forecast to set the most stringent constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r . Building on these advances, the overarching small-aperture telescope concept is already being used as the reference for further Stage-4 experiment design. This paper describes the development of the BICEP Array 150 GHz detector module and its fabrication requirements, with highlights on the high-density time division multiplexing (TDM) design of the cryogenic circuit boards. The low-impedance wiring required between the detectors and the first stage of superconducting quantum interference device amplifiers is crucial to maintaining a stable bias current on the detectors. A novel multi-layer FR4 Printed Circuit Board with superconducting traces, capable of reading out up to 648 detectors, is detailed along with its validation tests. An ultra-high-density TDM detector module concept we developed for a CMB-S4-like experiment that allows up to 1920 detectors to be read out is also presented. TDM has been chosen as the detector readout technology for the Cosmic Microwave Background Stage-4 (CMB-S4) experiment based on its proven low-noise performance, predictable costs, and overall maturity of the architecture. The heritage for TDM is rooted in mm- and sub-mm-wave experiments dating back 20 years and has since evolved to support a multiplexing factor of 64x in Stage-3 experiments.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer Nature B.V,Springer Nature
• Subject: Aluminum / Arrays / ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS / b-mode polarization / Background noise / BICEP array / Cables / Characterization and Evaluation of Materials / Circuit boards / Collaboration / Condensed Matter Physics / Cosmic microwave background / cosmology / Design of experiments / Detectors / Gravitational waves / Heat / High density / High density polyethylenes / Magnetic Materials / Magnetism / Millimeter waves / Modules / Multilayers / Noise prediction / Physics / Physics and Astronomy / Receivers & amplifiers / Sensors / South Pole / Superconducting quantum interference devices / Superconductivity / Telescopes / Tensors / Time division multiplexing / transition edge sensor