The primordial inflation polarization explorer (PIPER): current status and performance of the first flight

Samuel Pawlyk; Peter A. R. Ade; Dominic Benford; Charles L. Bennett; David T. Chuss; Rahul Datta; Jessie L. Dotson; Joseph R. Eimer; Dale J. Fixsen; Natalie N. Gandilo; Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman; Mark Halpern; Gene Hilton; Gary F. Hinshaw; Kent Irwin; Christine Jhabvala; Mark Kimball; Alan Kogut; Luke Lowe; Jeff J. McMahon; Timothy M. Miller; Paul Mirel; S. Harvey Moseley; Samelys Rodriguez; Elmer Sharp III; Peter Shirron; Johannes G. Staguhn; Dan F. Sullivan; Eric R. Switzer; Peter Taraschi; Carole E. Tucker; Alexander Walts; Edward J. Wollack

doi:10.1117/12.2313874

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10 July 2018 The primordial inflation polarization explorer (PIPER): current status and performance of the first flight

Samuel Pawlyk, Peter A. R. Ade, Dominic Benford, Charles L. Bennett, David T. Chuss, Rahul Datta, Jessie L. Dotson, Joseph R. Eimer, Dale J. Fixsen, Natalie N. Gandilo, Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman, Mark Halpern, Gene Hilton, Gary F. Hinshaw, Kent Irwin, Christine Jhabvala, Mark Kimball, Alan Kogut, Luke Lowe, Jeff J. McMahon, Timothy M. Miller, Paul Mirel, S. Harvey Moseley, Samelys Rodriguez, Elmer Sharp III, Peter Shirron, Johannes G. Staguhn, Dan F. Sullivan, Eric R. Switzer, Peter Taraschi, Carole E. Tucker, Alexander Walts, Edward J. Wollack

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Proceedings Volume 10708, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IX; 1070806 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313874
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The Primordial Inflation Polarization ExploreR (PIPER) is a balloon-borne instrument optimized to measure the polarization of the CMB at large angular scales. It will map 85% of the sky over a series of conventional balloon flights from the Northern and Southern hemispheres, measuring the B-mode polarization power spectrum over a range of multipoles from 2-300 covering both the reionization bump and the recombination peak, with sensitivity to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio down to r = 0.007. PIPER will observe in four frequency bands centered at 200, 270, 350, and 600 GHz to characterize dust foregrounds. The instrument has background-limited sensitivity provided by fully cryogenic (1.7 K) optics focusing the sky signal onto kilo-pixel arrays of time-domain multiplexed Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers held at 100 mK. Polarization sensitivity and systematic control are provided by front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulators (VPMs). PIPER had its engineering ight in October 2017 from Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This papers outlines the major components in the PIPER system discussing the conceptual design as well as specific choices made for PIPER. We also report on the results of the engineering flight, looking at the functionality of the payload systems, particularly VPM, as well as pointing out areas of improvement.

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Samuel Pawlyk, Peter A. R. Ade, Dominic Benford, Charles L. Bennett, David T. Chuss, Rahul Datta, Jessie L. Dotson, Joseph R. Eimer, Dale J. Fixsen, Natalie N. Gandilo, Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman, Mark Halpern, Gene Hilton, Gary F. Hinshaw, Kent Irwin, Christine Jhabvala, Mark Kimball, Alan Kogut, Luke Lowe, Jeff J. McMahon, Timothy M. Miller, Paul Mirel, S. Harvey Moseley, Samelys Rodriguez, Elmer Sharp III, Peter Shirron, Johannes G. Staguhn, Dan F. Sullivan, Eric R. Switzer, Peter Taraschi, Carole E. Tucker, Alexander Walts, and Edward J. Wollack "The primordial inflation polarization explorer (PIPER): current status and performance of the first flight", Proc. SPIE 10708, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, 1070806 (10 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313874

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