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Simons Observatory Focal-Plane Module: In-lab Testing and Characterization Program

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Abstract

The Simons Observatory is a ground-based cosmic microwave background instrument to be sited in the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will deploy 60,000 transition-edge sensors (TES) bolometers in 49 separate focal-plane modules across a suite of four telescopes covering three dichroic bands termed low frequency (LF), mid-frequency and ultra-high frequency. Each MF and UHF focal-plane module packages 1720 feedhorn-coupled detectors with cryogenic components for highly multiplexed readout using microwave SQUID multiplexing. In this paper, we describe the testing program we have developed for high-throughput validation of modules after they are assembled. The validation requires measurements of the yield, saturation powers, time constants, noise properties and optical efficiencies. Additional measurements will be performed for further characterization as needed. We describe the methods developed and demonstrate preliminary results from the initial testing of a prototype module.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors, YW and KZ, upon reasonable request.

Notes

  1. The Bluefors DR has small differences from the others; in what follows, we focus on the Oxford systems for concreteness.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by a grant from the Simons Foundation (Award 457687, B.K.) and private funding from universities. SKC acknowledges support from NSF award AST-2001866. YL is supported by KIC Postdoctoral Fellowship. ZBH is supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities Award. ZX is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through grant GBMF5215 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Yuhan Wang, Kaiwen Zheng, Zachary Atkins, Daniel Dutcher, Erin Healy, Heather McCarrick, Rita Sonka & Suzanne T. Staggs

  2. Quantum Sensors Group, NIST, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA

    Jason Austermann, Shannon M. Duff & Johannes Hubmayr

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 S 33rd St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Tanay Bhandarkar

  4. Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Steve K. Choi, Zachary B. Huber, Yaqiong Li, Michael D. Niemack & Eve Vavagiakis

  5. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Steve K. Choi & Michael D. Niemack

  6. Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Nicholas Galitzki, Joseph Seibert & Maximiliano Silva-Feaver

  7. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA

    Bradley R. Johnson

  8. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Jack Lashner

  9. Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Yaqiong Li & Michael D. Niemack

  10. MIT Kavli Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Zhilei Xu

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  1. Yuhan Wang
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  2. Kaiwen Zheng
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  14. Jack Lashner
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  15. Yaqiong Li
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  16. Heather McCarrick
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  18. Joseph Seibert
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  19. Maximiliano Silva-Feaver
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  20. Rita Sonka
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  21. Suzanne T. Staggs
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  22. Eve Vavagiakis
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  23. Zhilei Xu
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Correspondence to Yuhan Wang.

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Wang, Y., Zheng, K., Atkins, Z. et al. Simons Observatory Focal-Plane Module: In-lab Testing and Characterization Program. J Low Temp Phys 209, 944–952 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-022-02870-1

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