Collaborative Research: Polarization Sensitive Multi-Chroic MKIDs

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This is a collaborative project to build a system of arrays that will serve as a pathfinder for future Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) instruments. The arrays will use detectors known as Microwave Kinetic Inductance Device (MKID) detectors in multiple frequencies between 130 GHz and 280 GHz. Each array will have 20 elements. Broader impacts of the work include the training of undergraduate and graduate students in instrumentation development, which helps build the US workforce in STEM fields. The MKID arrays are tailored for experiments that are designed to simultaneously characterize the polarization properties of both the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and Galactic dust emission. The device design builds from successful transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer architectures that have been demonstrated to work in instruments on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and South Pole Telescope (SPT).