SPIDER: A balloon-borne CMB polarimeter for large angular scales

  • J. P. Filippini
  • , P. A.R. Ade
  • , M. Amiri
  • , S. J. Benton
  • , R. Bihary
  • , J. J. Bock
  • , J. R. Bond
  • , J. A. Bonetti
  • , S. A. Bryan
  • , B. Burger
  • , H. C. Chiang
  • , C. R. Contaldi
  • , B. P. Crill
  • , O. Doré
  • , M. Farhang
  • , L. M. Fissel
  • , N. N. Gandilo
  • , S. R. Golwala
  • , J. E. Gudmundsson
  • , M. Halpern
  • M. Hasselfield, G. Hilton, W. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. D. Irwin, W. C. Jones, C. L. Kuo, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, T. E. Montroy, T. A. Morford, C. B. Netterfield, D. T. O'Dea, A. S. Rahlin, C. D. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, M. A. Schenker, J. A. Shariff, J. D. Soler, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe SPIDER, a balloon-borne instrument to map the polarization of the millimeter-wave sky with degree angular resolution. Spider consists of six monochromatic refracting telescopes, each illuminating a focal plane of large-format antenna-coupled bolometer arrays. A total of 2,624 superconducting transition-edge sensors are distributed among three observing bands centered at 90, 150, and 280 GHz. A cold half-wave plate at the aperture of each telescope modulates the polarization of incoming light to control systematics. SPIDER's first flight will be a 20-30-day Antarctic balloon campaign in December 2011. This flight will map ~8% of the sky to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to the polarization signature of the gravitational wave background predicted by inflationary cosmology. The SPIDER mission will also serve as a proving ground for these detector technologies in preparation for a future satellite mission.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy V
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
EventMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy V - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Jun 29 2010Jul 2 2010

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume7741
ISSN (Print)0277-786X

Other

OtherMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy V
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period6/29/107/2/10

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • Spider
  • cosmic microwave background
  • inflation
  • polarization
  • transition-edge sensor

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