THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: The POLARIZATION-SENSITIVE ACTPol INSTRUMENT

R. J. Thornton, P. A.R. Ade, S. Aiola, F. E. Angilè, M. Amiri, J. A. Beall, D. T. Becker, H. M. Cho, S. K. Choi, P. Corlies, K. P. Coughlin, R. Datta, M. J. Devlin, S. R. Dicker, R. Dünner, J. W. Fowler, A. E. Fox, P. A. Gallardo, J. Gao, E. GraceM. Halpern, M. Hasselfield, S. W. Henderson, G. C. Hilton, A. D. Hincks, S. P. Ho, J. Hubmayr, K. D. Irwin, J. Klein, B. Koopman, Dale Li, T. Louis, M. Lungu, L. Maurin, J. McMahon, C. D. Munson, S. Naess, F. Nati, L. Newburgh, J. Nibarger, M. D. Niemack, P. Niraula, M. R. Nolta, L. A. Page, C. G. Pappas, A. Schillaci, B. L. Schmitt, N. Sehgal, J. L. Sievers, S. M. Simon, S. T. Staggs, C. Tucker, M. Uehara, J. Van Lanen, J. T. Ward, E. J. Wollack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

186 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) makes high angular resolution measurements of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at millimeter wavelengths. We describe ACTPol, an upgraded receiver for ACT, which uses feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive detector arrays, a 3 field of view, 100 mK cryogenics with continuous cooling, and meta material antireflection coatings. ACTPol comprises three arrays with separate cryogenic optics: two arrays at a central frequency of 148 GHz and one array operating simultaneously at both 97 GHz and 148 GHz. The combined instrument sensitivity, angular resolution, and sky coverage are optimized for measuring angular power spectra, clusters via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) and kinetic SZ signals, and CMB lensing due to large-scale structure. The receiver was commissioned with its first 148 GHz array in 2013, observed with both 148 GHz arrays in 2014, and has recently completed its first full season of operations with the full suite of three arrays. This paper provides an overview of the design and initial performance of the receiver and related systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number21
JournalAstrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume227
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • cosmic background radiation
  • instrumentation: polarimeters

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