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The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Polarization-Sensitive ACTPol InstrumentThe 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 3deg 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.
Document ID
20160014810
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Thornton, R. J.
(West Chester Univ. PA, United States)
Ade, P. A. R.
(Cardiff Univ. United Kingdom)
Aiola, S.
(Pittsburgh Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Angile, F. E.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Amiri, M.
(British Columbia Univ. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Beall, J. A.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Becker, D. T.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Cho, H.-M.
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Choi, S. K.
(Princeton Univ. Princeton, NJ, United States)
Corlies, P.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Coughlin, K. P.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Datta, R.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Devlin, M. J.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Dicker, S. R.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Duenner, R.
(Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile Santiago, Chile)
Fowler, J. W.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Fox, A. E.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Gallardo, P. A.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Gao, J.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Grace, E.
(Princeton Univ. Princeton, NJ, United States)
Halpern, M.
(British Columbia Univ. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Hasselfield, M.
(Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Henderson, S. W.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Hilton, G. C.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Hincks, A. D.
(British Columbia Univ. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Ho, S. P.
(Princeton Univ. Princeton, NJ, United States)
Hubmayr, J.
(National Inst. of Standards and Technology Boulder, CO, United States)
Irwin, K. D.
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Klein, J.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Koopman, B.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Li, Dale
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Louis, T.
(Institut d'Astrophysique Paris, France)
Lungu, M.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Maurin, L.
(Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile Santiago, Chile)
McMahon, J.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Munson, C. D.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Wollack, E. J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
December 22, 2016
Publication Date
December 9, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Publisher: The American Astronomical Society
Volume: 227
Issue: 2
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN38116
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AB58G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF-AST-0965625
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX13AE56G
CONTRACT_GRANT: ACT-1417
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF-AST-0408698
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AM32H
CONTRACT_GRANT: FONDECYT-1141113
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Telescope
Cosmology
ATACAMA

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