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Operational Optimization to Maximize Dynamic Range in EXCLAIM Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors

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Abstract

Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) are highly scalable detectors that have demonstrated nearly background-limited sensitivity in the far-infrared from high-altitude balloon-borne telescopes and space-like laboratory environments. In addition, the detectors have a rich design space with many optimizable parameters, allowing high sensitivity measurements over a wide dynamic range. For these reasons, MKIDs were chosen for the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM), a balloon-borne telescope targeting nearly background-limited performance in a high-altitude atmospheric environment from 420 to 540 GHz. We describe MKID optimization in the specific context of EXCLAIM and provide general results that apply to broader applications. Extending the established approach of tone frequency tracking, we show that readout power optimization enables significant, further improvement in dynamic range.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a 5-year NASA Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA 17-APRA17-0077) grant and NASA-Goddard Internal Research and Development funds, and TMO acknowledges support from the NASA-Goddard internship program and the UW-Madison graduate program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Trevor M. Oxholm & Peter T. Timbie

  2. NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Eric R. Switzer, Emily M. Barrentine, Thomas Essinger-Hileman, James P. Hays-Wehle, Omid Noroozian, Maryam Rahmani & Thomas R. Stevenson

  3. Department of Physics and School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Philip D. Mauskopf, Adrian K. Sinclair, Ryan Stephenson & Eric Weeks

  4. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Carolyn Volpert

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  1. Trevor M. Oxholm
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  2. Eric R. Switzer
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Correspondence to Trevor M. Oxholm.

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Oxholm, T.M., Switzer, E.R., Barrentine, E.M. et al. Operational Optimization to Maximize Dynamic Range in EXCLAIM Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors. J Low Temp Phys 209, 1038–1046 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-022-02760-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-022-02760-6

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