T. Viera-Curbelo

The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment: studying the polarisation of the galactic and cosmological microwave emissions

The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint Tenerife) CMB Experiment will operate at the Teide Observatory with the aim of characterizing the polarisation of the CMB and other processes of Galactic and extragalactic emission in the frequency range of 10-40GHz and at large and medium angular scales. The first of the two QUIJOTE telescopes and the first multi-frequency (10-30GHz) instrument are already built and have been tested in the laboratory. QUIJOTE-CMB will be a valuable complement at low frequencies for the Planck mission, and will have the required sensitivity to detect a primordial gravitational-wave component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r = 0.05.

Control system architecture of QUIJOTE multi-frequency instrument

The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment has been described in previous publications. Here we describe the architecture of the control system, hardware and software, of the QUIJOTE I instrument (MFI). It is a multi-channel instrument with five separate polarimeters: two of which operate at 10-14 GHz, two of which operate at 16-20 GHz, and a central polarimeter at 26-36 GHz. Each polarimeter can rotate at a speed of up to 1 Hz and also can move to discrete angular positions which allow the linear polar parameters Q, U and I to be derived. The instrument is installed in an alt-azimuth telescope which implements several operational modes: movement around the azimuth axis at a constant velocity while the elevation axis is held at a fixed elevation; tracking of a sky object; and raster of a rectangular area both in horizontal and sky coordinates. The control system of both, telescope and instrument, is based in the following technologies: an LXI-VXI bus is used for the signal acquisition system; an EtherCAT bus implements software PLCs developed in TwinCAT to perform the movement of the 5 polarimeters and the 2 axes of the telescope. Science signal, angular positions of the 5 polarimeters and telescope coordinates are sampled at up to 4000 Hz. All these data are correlated by a time stamp obtained from an external GPS clock implementing the Precise Time Protocol-1588 which provides synchronization to less than 1 microsecond. The control software also acquires housekeeping (HK) from the different subsystems. LabVIEW implements the instrument user interface.

The QUIJOTE TGI

The QUIJOTE TGI instrument is currently being assembled and tested at the IAC in Spain. The TGI is a 31 pixel 26-36 GHz polarimeter array designed to be mounted at the focus of the second QUIJOTE telescope. This follows a first telescope and multi-frequency instrument that have now been observing almost 2 years. The polarimeter design is based on the QUIET polarimeter scheme but with the addition of an extra 90º phase switch which allows for quasiinstantaneous complete QUI measurements through each detector. The advantage of this solution is a reduction in the systematics associated with differencing two independent radiometer channels. The polarimeters are split into a cold front end and a warm back end. The back end is a highly integrated design by the engineers at DICOM. It is also sufficiently modular for testing purposes. In this presentation the high quality wide band components used in the optical design (also designed in DICOM) are presented as well as the novel cryogenic modular design. Each polarimeter chain is accessible individually and can be removed from the cryostat and replaced without having to move the remaining pixels. The optical components work over the complete Ka band showing excellent performance. Results from the sub unit measurements are presented and also a description of the novel calibration technique that allows for bandpass measurement and polar alignment. Terrestrial Calibration for this instrument is very important and will be carried out at three points in the commissioning phase: in the laboratory, at the telescope site and finally a reduced set of calibrations will be carried out on the telescope before measurements of extraterrestrial sources begin. The telescope pointing model is known to be more precise than the expected calibration precision so no further significant error will be added through the telescope optics. The integrated back-end components are presented showing the overall arrangement for mounting on the cryostat. Many of the microwave circuits are in-house designs with performances that go beyond commercially available products.

The status of the QUIJOTE multi-frequency instrument

The QUIJOTE-CMB project has been described in previous publications. Here we present the current status of the QUIJOTE multi-frequency instrument (MFI) with five separate polarimeters (providing 5 independent sky pixels): two which operate at 10-14 GHz, two which operate at 16-20 GHz, and a central polarimeter at 30 GHz. The optical arrangement includes 5 conical corrugated feedhorns staring into a dual reflector crossed-draconian system, which provides optimal cross-polarization properties (designed to be < −35 dB) and symmetric beams. Each horn feeds a novel cryogenic on-axis rotating polar modulator which can rotate at a speed of up to 1 Hz. The science driver for this first instrument is the characterization of the galactic emission. The polarimeters use the polar modulator to derive linear polar parameters Q, U and I and switch out various systematics. The detection system provides optimum sensitivity through 2 correlated and 2 total power channels. The system is calibrated using bright polarized celestial sources and through a secondary calibration source and antenna. The acquisition system, telescope control and housekeeping are all linked through a real-time gigabit Ethernet network. All communication, power and helium gas are passed through a central rotary joint. The time stamp is synchronized to a GPS time signal. The acquisition software is based on PLCs written in Beckhoffs TwinCat and ethercat. The user interface is written in LABVIEW. The status of the QUIJOTE MFI will be presented including pre-commissioning results and laboratory testing.

The QUIJOTE TGI control system

The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife CMB experiment) has been described in previous publications. In particular, the architecture of the MFI instrument control system, the first of the three QUIJOTE instruments, was presented in [1]. In this paper we describe the control system architecture, hardware, and software, of the second QUIJOTE instrument, the TGI (Thirty GHz Instrument), which has been in the process of commissioning for a few weeks now. It is a 30 pixel 26-36 GHz polarimeter array mounted at the focus of the second QUIJOTE telescope. The polarimeter design is based on the QUIET polarimeter scheme, implementing phase switches of 90° and 180° to generate four states of polarisation. The TGI control system acquires the scientific signal of the four channels for each of the 30 polarimeters, sampled at 160 kHz; it controls the commutation of the 30 x 4 phase switches at 16 kHz or 8 kHz; it performs the acquisition and monitoring of the health of the complete instrument, acquiring housekeeping from the various subsystems and also controls the different operational modes of the telescope. It finally, implements a queue system that permits automation of the observations by allowing the programming of several days of observations with the minimum of human intervention. The acquisition system is based on a PXI-RT host from NI, the commutations of the phase switches are performed by a PXI-FPGA subsystem and the telescope control is based on an EtherCAT bus from Beckhoff.

QUIJOTE Experiment: status of telescopes and instrumentation

The QUIJOTE Experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a combined operation of two telescopes and three instruments working in the microwave band to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from the northern hemisphere, at medium and large angular scales. The experiment is located at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, one of the seven Canary Islands (Spain). The project is a consortium maintained by several institutions: the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA), the Communications Engineering Department (DICOM) at Universidad de Cantabria, and the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge. The consortium is led by the IAC.

The QUIJOTE TGI cryomechanics

The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint Tenerife) CMB Experiment is operating at the Teide Observatory with the aim of characterizing the polarization of the CMB and other processes of Galactic and extragalactic emission in the frequency range of 10–40GHz and at large and medium angular scales. The QUIJOTE CMB experiment consists of two telescopes installed inside a single enclosure, and three instruments, the MFI (multi-frequency 10–30GHz), the TGI (26–36 GHz) and the FGI (37–47 GHz). The first QUIJOTE telescope and the MFI instrument have been in operation at the Observatory since November 2012. In this poster we present the TGI cryostat and optomechanics status, including their design, MAIT, and thermal clamp developments.

Final acceptance of the 200 GHz telescope unit for the QUIJOTE CMB experiment

The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment is a scientific collaboration, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), with the aim of measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in the frequency range 10-40 GHz and at large angular scales (around 1°). The project is composed of 2 telescopes and 3 instruments, located in Teide Observatory (Tenerife, Spain). Idom´s contribution for this project is divided in two phases. Phase I consisted on the design, assembly and factory testing of the first telescope (2008), the integration and functional tests for the 5 polarimeters of the first instrument (2009), and the design and construction supervision of the building which protects both telescopes (2009), including the installation and commissioning of the mechanism for domes apertures. Phase II comprised the design, factory assembly and testing, transport and final commissioning on site of the second telescope, which finished in January 2015. The optical design of both telescopes should allow them to reach up to 200 GHz. The required opto-mechanical performance was checked under nominal conditions, reaching a pointing and tracking accuracy lower than 5 arcsec in both axes, 8 times better than specified. Particular inspections and tests were carried out for critical systems, as the rotary joint that transmits fluid, power and signal to the rotary elements, or for the safety system to ensure personnel and hardware protection under emergency conditions. This paper contains a comprehensive description of the power electronics and acquisition/control design required for safely operation under nominal and emergency conditions, as well as a detailed description of the factory and observatory tests required for the final acceptance of the telescope

QUIJOTE-CMB experiment: a technical overview

The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife CMB experiment) is an ambitious project to obtain polarization measurements of the sky microwave emission in the 10 to 47 GHz range. With this aim, a pair of 2,5μm telescopes and three instruments are being sited at the Teide Observatory, in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The first telescope and the first instrument (the MFI: Multi Frequency Instrument) are both already operating in the band from 10 to 20 GHz, since November 2012. The second telescope and the second instrument (TGI: Thirty GHz instrument) is planned to be in commissioning by the end of summer 2014, covering the range of 26 to 36 GHz. After that, a third instrument named FGI (Forty GHz instrument) will be designed and manufactured to complete the sky survey in the frequency range from 37 to 47 GHz. In this paper we present an overview of the whole project current status, from the technical point of view.

A 200-GHz telescope unit for the QUIJOTE CMB Experiment

Experiment QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a scientific collaboration, leaded by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), which can measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in the range of frequency up to 200 GHz, at angular scales of 1°. The project is composed of 2 telescopes and 3 instruments, located in Teide Observatory (Tenerife, Spain). After the successful delivery of the first telescope (operative since 2012), Idom is currently involved on the turn key supply of the second telescope (phase II). The work started in June 2013 and it will be completed in a challenging period of 12 months (operative at the beginning of July 2014), including design, factory assembly and testing, transport and final commissioning on site. This second unit will improve the opto-mechanical performance and maintainability. The telescope will have an unlimited rotation capacity in azimuth axis and a range of movement between 25°-95° in elevation axis. An integrated rotary joint will transmit fluid, power and signal to the rotary elements. The pointing and tracking accuracy will be significantly below to specification: 1.76 arcmin and 44 arcsec, respectively. This project completes Idom´s contribution during phase I, which also comprises the integration and functional tests for the 5 polarimeters of the first instrument in Bilbao headquarters, and the design and supervision of the building which protects both telescopes, including the installation and commissioning of the mechanism for shutters aperture.