The Detector System for the Stratospheric Kinetic Inductance Polarimeter (SKIP)

TL;DR

The SKIP experiment is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to observe cosmic microwave background and other signals with a large detector array, cooled optical system, and polarization modulation, aiming for multiple flights from Sweden.

Contribution

This paper introduces the design and implementation of SKIP, a novel balloon-borne polarimeter with a large detector array and advanced cooling and modulation systems for CMB studies.

Findings

Deployment planned with at least two flights from Kiruna, Sweden.

Utilizes 2317 LEKID detectors with a cooled optical system.

Operates in multiple spectral bands at 150, 260, and 350 GHz.

Abstract

The Stratospheric Kinetic Inductance Polarimeter (SKIP) is a proposed balloon-borne experiment designed to study the cosmic microwave background, the cosmic infrared background and Galactic dust emission by observing 1133 square degrees of sky in the Northern Hemisphere with launches from Kiruna, Sweden. The instrument contains 2317 single-polarization, horn-coupled, aluminum lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKID). The LEKIDs will be maintained at 100 mK with an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The polarimeter operates in two configurations, one sensitive to a spectral band centered on 150 GHz and the other sensitive to 260 and 350 GHz bands. The detector readout system is based on the ROACH-1 board, and the detectors will be biased below 300 MHz. The detector array is fed by an F/2.4 crossed-Dragone telescope with a 500 mm aperture yielding a 15 arcmin FWHM beam at 150 GHz. To minimize detector loading and maximize sensitivity, the entire optical system will be cooled to 1 K. Linearly polarized sky signals will be modulated with a metal-mesh half-wave plate that is mounted at the telescope aperture and rotated by a superconducting magnetic bearing. The observation program consists of at least two, five-day flights beginning with the 150 GHz observations.