Sean Bryan

SPIDER: A balloon-borne CMB polarimeter for large angular scales

We describe SPIDER, a balloon-borne instrument to map the polarization of the millimeter-wave sky with degree angular resolution. Spider consists of six monochromatic refracting telescopes, each illuminating a focal plane of large-format antenna-coupled bolometer arrays. A total of 2,624 superconducting transition-edge sensors are distributed among three observing bands centered at 90, 150, and 280 GHz. A cold half-wave plate at the aperture of each telescope modulates the polarization of incoming light to control systematics. SPIDERs first flight will be a 20-30-day Antarctic balloon campaign in December 2011. This flight will map ~8% of the sky to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to the polarization signature of the gravitational wave background predicted by inflationary cosmology. The SPIDER mission will also serve as a proving ground for these detector technologies in preparation for a future satellite mission.

SPIDER: a balloon-borne large-scale CMB polarimeter

Spider is a balloon-borne experiment that will measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background over a large fraction of a sky at ~ 1° resolution. Six monochromatic refracting millimeter-wave telescopes with large arrays of antenna-coupled transition-edge superconducting bolometers will provide system sensitivities of 4.2 and 3.1 μKcmb√s at 100 and 150 GHz, respectively. A rotating half-wave plate will modulate the polarization sensitivity of each telescope, controlling systematics. Bolometer arrays operating at 225 GHz and 275 GHz will allow removal of polarized galactic foregrounds. In a 2-6 day first flight from Alice Springs, Australia in 2010, Spider will map 50% of the sky to a depth necessary to improve our knowledge of the reionization optical depth by a large factor.

Spider optimization: Probing the systematics of a large-scale B-mode experiment

Spider is a long-duration, balloon-borne polarimeter designed to measure large-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization with very high sensitivity and control of systematics. The instrument will map over half the sky with degree angular resolution in the I, Q, and U Stokes parameters in four frequency bands from 96 to 275 GHz. Spiders ultimate goal is to detect the primordial gravity-wave signal imprinted on the CMB B-mode polarization. One of the challenges in achieving this goal is the minimization of the contamination of B-modes by systematic effects. This paper explores a number of instrument systematics and observing strategies in order to optimize B-mode sensitivity. This is done by injecting realistic-amplitude, time-varying systematics into a set of simulated time streams. Tests of the impact of detector noise characteristics, pointing jitter, payload pendulations, polarization angle offsets, beam systematics, and receiver gain drifts are shown. Spiders default observing strategy is to spin continuously in azimuth, with polarization modulation achieved by either a rapidly spinning half-wave plate or a rapidly spinning gondola and a slowly stepped half-wave plate. Although the latter is more susceptible to systematics, the results shown here indicate that either mode of operation can be used by Spider.

Design and performance of the SPIDER instrument

Here we describe the design and performance of the SPIDER instrument. SPIDER is a balloon-borne cosmic microwave background polarization imager that will map part of the sky at 90, 145, and 280 GHz with subdegree resolution and high sensitivity. This paper discusses the general design principles of the instrument inserts, mechanical structures, optics, focal plane architecture, thermal architecture, and magnetic shielding of the TES sensors and SQUID multiplexer. We also describe the optical, noise, and magnetic shielding performance of the 145 GHz prototype instrument insert.

Modeling and characterization of the SPIDER half-wave plate

Spider is a balloon-borne array of six telescopes that will observe the Cosmic Microwave Background. The 2624 antenna-coupled bolometers in the instrument will make a polarization map of the CMB with approximately one-half degree resolution at 145 GHz. Polarization modulation is achieved via a cryogenic sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) skyward of the primary optic. We have measured millimeter-wave transmission spectra of the sapphire at room and cryogenic temperatures. The spectra are consistent with our physical optics model, and the data gives excellent measurements of the indices of A-cut sapphire. We have also taken preliminary spectra of the integrated HWP, optical system, and detectors in the prototype Spider receiver. We calculate the variation in response of the HWP between observing the CMB and foreground spectra, and estimate that it should not limit the Spider constraints on inflation.

Modeling dielectric half-wave plates for cosmic microwave background polarimetry using a Mueller matrix formalism

We derive an analytic formula using the Mueller matrix formalism that parameterizes the nonidealities of a half-wave plate (HWP) made from dielectric antireflection-coated birefringent slabs. This model accounts for frequency-dependent effects at normal incidence, including effects driven by the reflections at dielectric boundaries. The model also may be used to guide the characterization of an instrument that uses a HWP. We discuss the coupling of a HWP to different source spectra, and the potential impact of that effect on foreground removal for the SPIDER cosmic microwave background experiment. We also describe a way to use this model in a mapmaking algorithm that fully corrects for HWP nonidealities.

Pre-flight integration and characterization of the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

We present the results of integration and characterization of the Spider instrument after the 2013 pre-flight campaign. Spider is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to probe the primordial gravitational wave signal in the degree-scale B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background. With six independent telescopes housing over 2000 detectors in the 94 GHz and 150 GHz frequency bands, Spider will map 7.5% of the sky with a depth of 11 to 14 μK•arcmin at each frequency, which is a factor of ~5 improvement over Planck. We discuss the integration of the pointing, cryogenic, electronics, and power sub-systems, as well as pre-flight characterization of the detectors and optical systems. Spider is well prepared for a December 2014 flight from Antarctica, and is expected to be limited by astrophysical foreground emission, and not instrumental sensitivity, over the survey region.

Spider Optimization II: Optical, Magnetic and Foreground Effects

SPIDER is a balloon-borne instrument designed to map the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with degree-scale resolution over a large fraction of the sky. SPIDERs main goal is to measure the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves through their imprint on the polarization of the CMB if the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, is greater than 0.03. To achieve this goal, instrumental systematic errors must be controlled with unprecedented accuracy. Here, we build on previous work to use simulations of SPIDER observations to examine the impact of several systematic effects that have been characterized through testing and modeling of various instrument components. In particular, we investigate the impact of the non-ideal spectral response of the half-wave plates, coupling between focal-plane components and Earths magnetic field, and beam mismatches and asymmetries. We also present a model of diffuse polarized foreground emission based on a three-dimensional model of the Galactic magnetic field and dust, and study the interaction of this foreground emission with our observation strategy and instrumental effects. We find that the expected level of foreground and systematic contamination is sufficiently low for SPIDER to achieve its science goals.

Microwave SQUID multiplexer demonstration for cosmic microwave background imagers

Key performance characteristics are demonstrated for the microwave SQUID multiplexer (µmux) coupled to transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers that have been optimized for cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. In a 64-channel demonstration, we show that the µmux produces a white, input referred current noise level of [Formula: see text] at -77 dB microwave probe tone power, which is well below expected fundamental detector and photon noise sources for a ground-based CMB-optimized bolometer. Operated with negligible photon loading, we measure [Formula: see text] in the TES-coupled channels biased at 65% of the sensor normal resistance. This noise level is consistent with that predicted from bolometer thermal fluctuation (i.e. phonon) noise. Furthermore, the power spectral density is white over a range of frequencies down to ~ 100 mHz, which enables CMB mapping on large angular scales that constrain the physics of inflation. Additionally, we report cross-talk measurements that indicate a level below 0.3%, which is less than the level of cross-talk from multiplexed readout systems in deployed CMB imagers. These measurements demonstrate the µmux as a viable readout technique for future CMB imaging instruments.

A cryogenic rotation stage with a large clear aperture for the half-wave plates in the Spider instrument

We describe the cryogenic half-wave plate rotation mechanisms built for and used in Spider, a polarization-sensitive balloon-borne telescope array that observed the cosmic microwave background at 95 GHz and 150 GHz during a stratospheric balloon flight from Antarctica in January 2015. The mechanisms operate at liquid helium temperature in flight. A three-point contact design keeps the mechanical bearings relatively small but allows for a large (305 mm) diameter clear aperture. A worm gear driven by a cryogenic stepper motor allows for precise positioning and prevents undesired rotation when the motors are depowered. A custom-built optical encoder system monitors the bearing angle to an absolute accuracy of ±0.1(∘). The system performed well in Spider during its successful 16 day flight.