Search

GroundBIRD is a millimeter-wave telescope to observe the polarization patterns of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The target science topics are primordial gravitational waves from cosmic inflation and reionization optical depth. Therefore, this telescope is designed to achieve the highest sensitivity at large angular scales, e = 6 - 300. For wide sky observations (~40% full-sky), scanning at a high rotation speed (120°/s) is important to remove atmospheric fluctuations. Microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) is utilized with the fast GroundBIRD rotation since its good time response. We have started the commissioning run at the Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands. We report the performance of the telescope, receiver, and data acquisition system, including cooling achievements, observations of astronomical objects, and observations taken during several days ahead of our main survey observations.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is an afterglow of the Big Bang. It contains the crucial keys to understand the beginning of the universe. In particular, the odd-parity patterns of CMB polarization, B-modes, at more than degree-scale, are the best probe to detect primordial gravitational waves at the cosmic inflation. The GroundBIRD experiment aims to detect this large angular scale patterns from the ground. The experiment employs novel techniques; a high-speed rotational scanning system (20 revolution-per-minutes) with cold optics below 4K, and microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) as the focal plane detectors. The fast scanning modulation is a crucial characteristic in our observation strategy to mitigate effects of the atmospheric fluctuation. The telescope rotates and scans the sky along the azimuth at the elevation angle of 60 degrees at Teide observatory in the Canary Islands. It allows us to measure CMB polarization patterns at a wide multipole range, 6 < \ell < 300, i.e. aiming to catch the reionization bump. We have developed a telescope mount with 3-axis rotation mechanism (azimuth, elevation, and boresight). We are evaluating the vibration at the focal plane position with rotating the telescope mount. The focal plane consists of seven hexagonal corrugated horn coupled MKIDs array: six hexagon units are for 145 GHz band (55 pixels/unit), and one unit is for 220 GHz band (112 pixels). Each pixel consists of a corrugated horn, a planner OMT, millimeter wave circuits for transmission of dual-polarization signals with the suppression of crosstalk modes, and two MKIDs for each polarization. Magnetic shields are also mounted so as to suppress the external magnetic fields. Trapped magnetic fields inside of the superconducting materials decrease the performance of the MKID. The geomagnetism is the static and large magnetic fields. The telescope motion makes modulation of the geomagnetism as well as the modulation of CMB signals. Therefore, we need careful evaluation associating with the telescope rotation. By using a small evaluation system with modulated magnetic fields, we understand impacts the magnetic shield as well as responses of the MKID for the modulated magnetic field. We design the shield based on them. In this presentation, we will report an evaluation of detector responses on the high-speed rotating system along the azimuth. We will also show demonstrations of our own readout electronics which is well matching with the rapid scan modulation strategy.

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 (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment is a scientific collaboration, led by the Instituto de Astrofisica 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

The PLT-HPT-32, a new cryogenic temperature monitor, has been developed by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and an external engineering company (Sergio Gonzalez Martin-Fernandez). The PLT-HPT-32 temperature monitor offers precision measurement in a wide range of cryogenic and higher-temperature applications with the ability to easily monitor up to 32 sensor channels. It provides better measurement performance in applications where researchers need to ensure accuracy and precision in their low cryogenic temperature monitoring. The PLT-HPT-32 supports PTC RTDs such as platinum sensors, and diodes such as the Lake Shore DT-670 Series. Used with silicon diodes, it provides accurate measurements in cryo-cooler applications from 16 K to above room temperature. The resolution of the measurement is less than 0.1K. Measurements can be displayed in voltage units or Kelvin units. For it, two different tables can be used. One can be programmed by the user, and the other one corresponds to Lake Shore DT670 sensor that comes standard. There are two modes of measuring, the instantaneous mode and averaged mode. In this moment, all channels must work in the same mode but in the near future it expected to be used in blocks of eight channels. The instantaneous mode takes three seconds to read all channels. The averaged mode takes one minute to average twenty samples in all channels. Alarm thresholds can be configured independently for each input. The alarm events, come from the first eight channels, can activate the unit’s relay outputs for hard-wired triggering of other systems or audible annunciators. Activate relays on high, low, or both alarms for any input. For local monitoring, "Stand-Alone Mode", the front panel of the PLT-HPT-32 features a bright liquid crystal display with an LED backlight that shows up to 32 readings simultaneously. Plus, monitoring can be done over a network "Remote Control Mode". Using the Ethernet port on the PLT-HPT-32, you can keep an eye on temperatures, log measurement and configured remotely via a Networked local PC or even remotely over a TCP/IP Internet connection from anywhere.

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.

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 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 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 reduce 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. Individual component performance is be presented showing for each of the sub modules.

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 CMB experiment aims to characterize the polarization of the CMB in the frequency range 10-30 GHz and large angular scales. It will be installed in the Teide Observatory, following the projects that the Anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background group has developed in the past (Tenerife experiment, IAC-Bartol experiment...) and is running at the present time (VSA, Cosmosomas). The QUIJOTE CMB experiment will consist of two telescopes which will be installed inside a unique enclosure, which is already constructed. The layout of both telescopes is based on an altazimuth mount supporting a primary and a secondary mirror disposed in a offset Gregorian Dragon scheme. The use of industrial-like fabrication techniques, such as sand-mould casting, CNC machining, and laser tracker measuring for alignment, provided the required performances for microwave observation. A fast-track construction scheme, altogether with the use of these fabrication techniques allowed designing and manufacturing the opto-mechanics of the telescope in 14 months prior to delivery for final start-up in December 2008.