Optical characterization of the Keck array polarimeter at the South Pole
Abstract
The Keck Array (SPUD) is a set of microwave polarimeters that observes from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of Inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The first three Keck Array receivers were deployed during the 2010-2011 Austral summer, followed by two new receivers in the 2011-2012 summer season, completing the full five-receiver array. All five receivers are currently observing at 150 GHz. The Keck Array employs the field-proven BICEP/ BICEP2 strategy of using small, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. We describe our efforts to characterize the main beam shape and beam shape mismatch between co-located orthogonally-polarized detector pairs, and discuss the implications of measured differential beam parameters on temperature to polarization leakage in CMB analysis.
- Publication:
-
Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
- Pub Date:
- September 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.926639
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1208.0844
- Bibcode:
- 2012SPIE.8452E..26V
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 13 pages, 11 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol 8452: Millimeter, Submillimeter and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, July 2012