A. Cruciani

The Large-Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE)

The LSPE is a balloon-borne mission aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales, and in particular to constrain the curl component of CMB polarization (B-modes) produced by tensor perturbations generated during cosmic inflation, in the very early universe. Its primary target is to improve the limit on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations amplitudes down to r = 0.03, at 99.7% confidence. A second target is to produce wide maps of foreground polarization generated in our Galaxy by synchrotron emission and interstellar dust emission. These will be important to map Galactic magnetic fields and to study the properties of ionized gas and of diffuse interstellar dust in our Galaxy. The mission is optimized for large angular scales, with coarse angular resolution (around 1.5 degrees FWHM), and wide sky coverage (25% of the sky). The payload will fly in a circumpolar long duration balloon mission during the polar night. Using the Earth as a giant solar shield, the instrument will spin in azimuth, observing a large fraction of the northern sky. The payload will host two instruments. An array of coherent polarimeters using cryogenic HEMT amplifiers will survey the sky at 43 and 90 GHz. An array of bolometric polarimeters, using large throughput multi-mode bolometers and rotating Half Wave Plates (HWP), will survey the same sky region in three bands at 95, 145 and 245 GHz. The wide frequency coverage will allow optimal control of the polarized foregrounds, with comparable angular resolution at all frequencies.

SWIPE: a bolometric polarimeter for the Large-Scale Polarization Explorer

The balloon-borne LSPE mission is optimized to measure the linear polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background at large angular scales. The Short Wavelength Instrument for the Polarization Explorer (SWIPE) is composed of 3 arrays of multi-mode bolometers cooled at 0.3K , with optical components and filters cryogenically cooled below 4K to reduce the background on the detectors. Polarimetry is achieved by means of large rotating half-wave plates and wire-grid polarizers in front of the arrays. The polarization modulator is the first component of the optical chain, reducing significantly the effect of instrumental polarization. In SWIPE we trade angular resolution for sensitivity. The diameter of the entrance pupil of the refractive telescope is 45 cm, while the field optics is optimized to collect tens of modes for each detector, thus boosting the absorbed power. This approach results in a FWHM resolution of 1.8, 1.5, 1.2 degrees at 95, 145, 245 GHz respectively. The expected performance of the three channels is limited by photon noise, resulting in a final sensitivity around 0.1-0.2 μK per beam, for a 13 days survey covering 25% of the sky.

Pressure distribution of the high-redshift cluster of galaxies CL J1226.9+3332 with NIKA

The thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) e ect is expected to provide a low scatter mass proxy for galaxy clusters since it is directly proportional to the cluster thermal energy. The tSZ observations have proven to be a powerful tool for detecting and studying them, but high angular resolution observations are now needed to push their investigation to a higher redshift. In this paper, we report high angular (<20 arcsec) resolution tSZ observations of the high-redshift cluster CL J1226.9+3332 (z = 0:89). It was imaged at 150 and 260 GHz using the NIKA camera at the IRAM 30-m telescope. The 150 GHz map shows that CL J1226.9+3332 is morphologically relaxed on large scales with evidence of a disturbed core, while the 260 GHz channel is used mostly to identify point source contamination. NIKA data are combined with those of Planck and X-ray from Chandra to infer the cluster’s radial pressure, density, temperature, and entropy distributions. The total mass profile of the cluster is derived, and we find M500 = 5:96 +1:02 0:79 10 14 M within the radius R500 = 930 +50 kpc, at a 68% confidence level. (R500 is the radius within which the average density is 500 times the critical density at the cluster’s redshift.) NIKA is the prototype camera of NIKA2, a KIDs (kinetic inductance detectors) based instrument to be installed at the end of 2015. This work is, therefore, part of a pilot study aiming at optimizing tSZ NIKA2 large programs.

Improved mm-wave photometry for kinetic inductance detectors

Context. We have developed a dual-band (140 and 220 GHz) mm-wave imaging camera based on superconducting kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays. Each array contains 132 superconducting resonators whose resonant frequencies are shifted by mm-wave photons absorption. The read out is achieved with a single electronics chain per band, taking advantage of the intrinsic KID frequency-domain multiplexability. The arrays are easily scalable and well adapted for future large format focal plane instruments. NIKA (formerly Neel IRAM KID Array, now New IRAM KID Array) has been specifically designed for the IRAM 30 m telescope at Pico Veleta, and is one of the first instruments using KIDs to have made measurements of astronomical sources. Aims. In this Letter we describe the solutions adopted to improve the calibration accuracy and the sensitivity of the instrument, and we report on the outcome of the 3rd NIKA observing run of October, 2011. Methods. We use a fast electronic modulation of the readout tone for each KID pixel in order to linearize the instrument calibration, which we track with measurements of planets. We also adopt a new design of the KIDs, sensitive to both polarizations, to increase the amount of radiation absorbed and thus the optical efficiency of the system. Results. We measured an average sensitivity on the sky of 21 mJys0.5 per beam at 140 GHz and 140 mJys0.5 at 220 GHz in the best observing conditions (τ220 ≃ 0.2) after atmospheric noise decorrelation. The sensitivity at 220 GHz was limited by the atmospheric attenuation and loading as well as a reduction in the spectral bandwidth due to a misplaced filter. We found the repeatability in the photometry over the entire observing run to be better than 10% in both bands, thus demonstrating a significant improvement over the previous runs. We also find good agreement between NIKA measurements of faint astronomical sources and previous measurements of the same sources.

Energy resolution and efficiency of phonon-mediated kinetic inductance detectors for light detection

The development of sensitive cryogenic light detectors is of primary interest for bolometric experiments searching for rare events like dark matter interactions or neutrino-less double beta decay. Thanks to their good energy resolution and the natural multiplexed read-out, Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) are particularly suitable for this purpose. To efficiently couple KIDs-based light detectors to the large crystals used by the most advanced bolometric detectors, active surfaces of several cm2 are needed. For this reason, we are developing phonon-mediated detectors. In this paper, we present the results obtained with a prototype consisting of four 40 nm thick aluminum resonators patterned on a 2 × 2 cm2 silicon chip, and calibrated with optical pulses and X-rays. The detector features a noise resolution σE = 154 ± 7 eV and an (18 ± 2)% efficiency.

First array of enriched Zn

The R&D activity performed during the last years proved the potential of ZnSe scintillating bolometers to the search for neutrino-less double beta decay, motivating the realization of the first large-mass experiment based on this technology: CUPID-0. The isotopic enrichment in

Se bolometers to search for double beta decay

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High sensitivity phonon-mediated kinetic inductance detector with combined amplitude and phase read-out

82Se, the Zn