Development of a multiplexed readout for microwave kinetic inductance detectors

As new generations of millimetre-wavelength cosmology experiments look to detect ever-fainter signals, they require ever-increasing levels of sensitivity. Because modern detectors and readout systems already operate at such high levels of performance that they attain the physical limit imposed by the photons they detect, any improvements in sensitivity must instead come from increasing the number of detectors that an experiment operates. The next-generation experiment on the South Pole Telescope, SPT4, proposes to achieve this by adopting a detector technology which is new to this scale of experiment, the microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID).The first major deployment of these detectors for scientific means at millimetre wavelengths, this represents a significant technical challenge, as existing systems on the telescope must be either majorly overhauled or developed anew. These systems centre around the transport of signals into and out of the cryogenic equipment which houses the experiment’s focal plane. The development of these systems involves testing with MKIDs, which are operated at sub-Kelvin temperatures (100mK) and require highly specialized experimental setups, such as are available at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and at the University of Chicago.

Faculty Supervisor:

Matt Dobbs

Student:

Partner:

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory;University of Chicago

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

McGill University

Program: