Receiver development for BICEP Array, a next-generation CMB polarimeter at the South Pole

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development, design, and initial performance of the BICEP Array's first receiver, a crucial step toward detecting primordial B-mode polarization in the CMB to test inflationary models.

Contribution

It introduces the design and calibration of the first BICEP Array receiver, advancing the instrumentation for next-generation CMB polarization measurements.

Findings

Successful on-sky performance and calibration of the first receiver

Implementation of complex time-domain multiplexed readout for large detector arrays

Projected sensitivity to primordial gravitational waves with future observations

Abstract

A detection of curl-type ($B$-mode) polarization of the primary CMB would be direct evidence for the inflationary paradigm of the origin of the Universe. The BICEP/Keck Array (BK) program targets the degree angular scales, where the power from primordial $B$-mode polarization is expected to peak, with ever-increasing sensitivity and has published the most stringent constraints on inflation to date. BICEP Array (BA) is the Stage-3 instrument of the BK program and will comprise four BICEP3-class receivers observing at 30/40, 95, 150 and 220/270 GHz with a combined 32,000+ detectors; such wide frequency coverage is necessary for control of the Galactic foregrounds, which also produce degree-scale $B$-mode signal. The 30/40 GHz receiver is designed to constrain the synchrotron foreground and has begun observing at the South Pole in early 2020. By the end of a 3-year observing campaign, the full BICEP Array instrument is projected to reach $\sigma_r$ between 0.002 and 0.004, depending on foreground complexity and degree of removal of $B$-modes due to gravitational lensing (delensing). This paper presents an overview of the design, measured on-sky performance and calibration of the first BA receiver. We also give a preview of the added complexity in the time-domain multiplexed readout of the 7,776-detector 150 GHz receiver.