Abstract
Time-division multiplexing is the readout architecture of choice for many ground and space experiments, as it is a very mature technology with proven outstanding low-frequency noise stability, which represents a central challenge in multiplexing. Once fully populated, each of the two BICEP Array high-frequency receivers, observing at 150 GHz and 220/270 GHz, will have 7776 TES detectors tiled on the focal plane. The constraints set by these two receivers required a redesign of the warm readout electronics. The new version of the standard multichannel electronics, developed and built at the University of British Columbia, is presented here for the first time. BICEP Array operates time-division multiplexing readout technology to the limits of its capabilities in terms of multiplexing rate, noise and cross talk, and applies them in rigorously demanding scientific application requiring extreme noise performance and systematic error control. Future experiments like CMB-S4 plan to use TES bolometers with time-division/SQUID-based readout for an even larger number of detectors.
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Acknowledgements
BICEP/Keck Array project have been made possible through a series of grants from the National Science Foundation and by the Keck Foundation. The development of antenna-coupled detector technology was supported by the JPL Research and Technology Development Fund and NASA Grants. The development and testing of focal planes were supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation at Caltech. Readout electronics were supported by a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant to UBC. The computations in this paper were run on the Odyssey cluster supported by the FAS Science Division Research Computing Group at Harvard University. We thank the staff of the US Antarctic Program and in particular the South Pole Station without whose help this research would not have been possible. Tireless administrative support was provided by Nancy Roth-Rappard.
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SF wrote the main manuscript text, analyzed the data and made the figures. All the rest of the authors reviewed the manuscript and provided important feedback.
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Fatigoni, S., Ade, P.A.R., Ahmed, Z. et al. Results and Limits of Time-Division Multiplexing for the BICEP Array High-Frequency Receivers. J Low Temp Phys (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-024-03100-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-024-03100-6