CAREER: Developing Antenna-Coupled Kinetic Inductance Detectors to Enable Next Generation CMB Experiments

该团队将设计、建造和演示动态电感探测器(KILD)阵列。一个孩子身上有一个非常冷的、无阻力的装置。当这个装置“看到”宇宙微波背景(CMB)时，它的性质就会改变。CMB是年轻宇宙发出的微弱信号。下一代CMB实验需要大量的孩子。该团队还将为来自少数族裔的本科生和芝加哥地区的高中生提供实验室体验。该团队的目标是：(1)制造单层谐振器来表征薄膜属性，测量固有噪声水平，并验证灵敏度标度定律。(2)将谐振器耦合到一个简单的天线上，以测量毫米波长的响应和介电损耗，并验证CMB大气窗口的完全覆盖。(3)对耦合到宽带对数周期天线上的单像素多通道探测器进行了测试，以验证实际条件下背景受限的工作情况。(4)对约2000像素的演示KID阵列进行端到端的实验室测试。未来的CMB实验使用数百万像素的KID阵列将：(A)精确测量中微子物种的数量和这些中微子物种的中微子质量总和，这些物种缺少-但对检验粒子物理理论至关重要的-信息；以及(B)极大地改进对原始引力B模极化的搜索，这将证明宇宙经历了理论家假设的宇宙膨胀。

The team will design, build and demonstrate arrays of Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs). A KID contains a very cold, resistance-free device. That device changes its properties when it "sees" the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the faint signal from the young Universe. Vast arrays of KIDs are needed for the next generation of CMB experiments. The team will also provide laboratory experience for undergraduates from underrepresented minorities and for high school students in the Chicago area.The team's goals are: (1) Fabricate single-layer resonators to characterize film properties, measure the intrinsic noise level, and verify sensitivity scaling laws. (2) Couple the resonators to a simple antenna, to measure the response and dielectric
 losses at millimeter wavelengths and to verify full coverage of the CMB atmospheric windows. (3) Test single-pixel multi-channel detectors coupled to wide-band log-periodic antennas, to verify background-limited operation under realistic conditions. (4) Conduct end-to-end laboratory tests of a demonstration KID array of about 2000 pixels. Future CMB experiments using KID arrays with millions of pixels will (a) precisely measure the number of neutrino species and the neutrino mass summed over those species, missing - but vital - information for testing theories of particle physics; and (b) dramatically improve searches for the primordial gravitational B-mode polarization that would prove that the Universe underwent the cosmic inflation posited by theorists.