The Simons Observatory: Complex Impedance Measurements for a Full Focal-Plane Module

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method using extsc{smurf} electronics to measure the complex impedance of hundreds of TES detectors simultaneously, enhancing detector characterization for the Simons Observatory.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel technique for large-scale, rapid complex impedance measurements of TES detectors using extsc{smurf}, enabling better detector understanding during operation.

Findings

Successfully measured complex impedance of hundreds of detectors simultaneously.

Compared effective thermal time constants with independent bias step estimates.

Method facilitates improved detector calibration and characterization.

Abstract

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground based Cosmic Microwave Background experiment that will be deployed to the Atacama Desert in Chile. SO will field over 60,000 transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers that will observe in six spectral bands between 27 GHz and 280 GHz with the goal of revealing new information about the origin and evolution of the universe. SO detectors are grouped based on their observing frequency and packaged into Universal Focal Plane Modules, each containing up to 1720 detectors which are read out using microwave SQUID multiplexing and the SLAC Microresonator Radio Frequency Electronics (\smurf). By measuring the complex impedance of a TES we are able to access many thermoelectric properties of the detector that are difficult to determine using other calibration methods, however it has been difficult historically to measure complex impedance for many detectors at once due to high sample rate requirements. Here we present a method which uses \smurf\ to measure the complex impedance of hundreds of detectors simultaneously on hour-long timescales. We compare the measured effective thermal time constants to those estimated independently with bias steps. This new method opens up the possibility for using this characterization tool both in labs and at the site to better understand the full population of SO detectors.