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arXiv · 1102.0870

A dual-band millimeter-wave kinetic inductance camera for the IRAM 30-meter telescope

A. Monfardini·A. Benoit·A. Bideaud·L. J. Swenson·M. Roesch·F. X. Desert·S. Doyle·A. Endo·A. Cruciani·P. Ade·A. M. Baryshev·J. J. A. Baselmans·O. Bourrion·M. Calvo·P. Camus·L. Ferrari·C. Giordano·C. Hoffmann·S. Leclercq·J. F. Macias-Perez·P. Mauskopf·K. F. Schuster·C. Tucker·C. Vescovi·S. J. C. Yates
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Abstract

Context. The Neel IRAM KIDs Array (NIKA) is a fully-integrated measurement system based on kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) currently being developed for millimeter wave astronomy. In a first technical run, NIKA was successfully tested in 2009 at the Institute for Millimetric Radio Astronomy (IRAM) 30-meter telescope at Pico Veleta, Spain. This prototype consisted of a 27-42 pixel camera imaging at 150 GHz. Subsequently, an improved system has been developed and tested in October 2010 at the Pico Veleta telescope. The instrument upgrades included dual-band optics allowing simultaneous imaging at 150 GHz and 220 GHz, faster sampling electronics enabling synchronous measurement of up to 112 pixels per measurement band, improved single-pixel sensitivity, and the fabrication of a sky simulator to replicate conditions present at the telescope. Results. The new dual-band NIKA was successfully tested in October 2010, performing in-line with sky simulator predictions. Initially the sources targeted during the 2009 run were re-imaged, verifying the improved system performance. An optical NEP was then calculated to be around 2 \dot 10-16 W/Hz1/2. This improvement in comparison with the 2009 run verifies that NIKA is approaching the target sensitivity for photon-noise limited ground-based detectors. Taking advantage of the larger arrays and increased sensitivity, a number of scientifically-relevant faint and extended objects were then imaged including the Galactic Center SgrB2(FIR1), the radio galaxy Cygnus A and the NGC1068 Seyfert galaxy. These targets were all observed simultaneously in the 150 GHz and 220 GHz atmospheric windows.

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A. Monfardini, A. Benoit, A. Bideaud, L. J. Swenson, M. Roesch, F. X. Desert, S. Doyle, A. Endo, A. Cruciani, P. Ade, A. M. Baryshev, J. J. A. Baselmans, O. Bourrion, M. Calvo, P. Camus, L. Ferrari, C. Giordano, C. Hoffmann, S. Leclercq, J. F. Macias-Perez, P. Mauskopf, K. F. Schuster, C. Tucker, C. Vescovi, S. J. C. Yates. 2011-02-04. A dual-band millimeter-wave kinetic inductance camera for the IRAM 30-meter telescope. https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/194/2/24

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