# The STRIP instrument of the Large Scale Polarization Explorer: microwave eyes to map the Galactic polarized foregrounds

## TL;DR

The paper details the development and upcoming deployment of the STRIP instrument, part of the LSPE project, designed to measure microwave polarization of the sky to detect primordial B-modes in the CMB.

## Contribution

It presents the latest hardware development, system-level testing, and deployment plans for the STRIP instrument in the LSPE experiment.

## Key findings

- Most hardware developed and tested at subsystem level
- System-level characterization started in July 2018
- Preparation for 2-year observation campaign underway

## Abstract

In this paper we discuss the latest developments of the STRIP instrument of the "Large Scale Polarization Explorer" (LSPE) experiment. LSPE is a novel project that combines ground-based (STRIP) and balloon-borne (SWIPE) polarization measurements of the microwave sky on large angular scales to attempt a detection of the "B-modes" of the Cosmic Microwave Background polarization. STRIP will observe approximately 25% of the Northern sky from the "Observatorio del Teide" in Tenerife, using an array of forty-nine coherent polarimeters at 43 GHz, coupled to a 1.5 m fully rotating crossed-Dragone telescope. A second frequency channel with six-elements at 95 GHz will be exploited as an atmospheric monitor. At present, most of the hardware of the STRIP instrument has been developed and tested at sub-system level. System-level characterization, starting in July 2018, will lead STRIP to be shipped and installed at the observation site within the end of the year. The on-site verification and calibration of the whole instrument will prepare STRIP for a 2-years campaign for the observation of the CMB polarization.