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arXiv · 1908.10451

Sensitivity of the Prime-Cam Instrument on the CCAT-prime Telescope

Steve K. Choi·Jason Austermann·Kaustuv Basu·Nicholas Battaglia·Frank Bertoldi·Dongwoo T. Chung·Nicholas F. Cothard·Shannon Duff·Cody J. Duell·Patricio A. Gallardo·Jiansong Gao·Terry Herter·Johannes Hubmayr·Michael D. Niemack·Thomas Nikola·Dominik Riechers·Kayla Rossi·Gordon J. Stacey·Jason R. Stevens·Eve M. Vavagiakis·Michael Vissers·Samantha Walker
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Abstract

CCAT-prime is a new 6 m crossed Dragone telescope designed to characterize the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization and foregrounds, measure the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects of galaxy clusters, map the [CII] emission intensity from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), and monitor accretion luminosity over multi-year timescales of hundreds of protostars in the Milky Way. CCAT-prime will make observations from a 5,600 m altitude site on Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The novel optical design of the telescope combined with high surface accuracy ($<$10 $μ$m) mirrors and the exceptional atmospheric conditions of the site will enable sensitive broadband, polarimetric, and spectroscopic surveys at sub-mm to mm wavelengths. Prime-Cam, the first light instrument for CCAT-prime, consists of a 1.8 m diameter cryostat that can house seven individual instrument modules. Each instrument module, optimized for a specific science goal, will use state-of-the-art kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays operated at $\sim$100 mK, and Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) for the EoR science. Prime-Cam will be commissioned with staged deployments to populate the seven instrument modules. The full instrument will consist of 60,000 polarimetric KIDs at a combination of 220/280/350/410 GHz, 31,000 KIDS at 250/360 GHz coupled with FPIs, and 21,000 polarimetric KIDs at 850 GHz. Prime-Cam is currently being built, and the CCAT-prime telescope is designed and under construction by Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH to achieve first light in 2021. CCAT-prime is also a potential telescope platform for the future CMB Stage-IV observations.

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Steve K. Choi, Jason Austermann, Kaustuv Basu, Nicholas Battaglia, Frank Bertoldi, Dongwoo T. Chung, Nicholas F. Cothard, Shannon Duff, Cody J. Duell, Patricio A. Gallardo, Jiansong Gao, Terry Herter, Johannes Hubmayr, Michael D. Niemack, Thomas Nikola, Dominik Riechers, Kayla Rossi, Gordon J. Stacey, Jason R. Stevens, Eve M. Vavagiakis, Michael Vissers, Samantha Walker. 2020-03-31. Sensitivity of the Prime-Cam Instrument on the CCAT-prime Telescope. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-020-02428-z

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