Development and characterization of a millimeter-wave circular polarization observation method using a quarter-wave plate with Simons Array
We have developed and demonstrated a method for measuring circular polarization at 90 GHz by combining a quarter-wave plate (QWP) and a continuously rotating half-wave plate (HWP). While many bolometric experiments at millimeter wavelengths focus on measuring linear polarization, observations of circular polarization in millimeter waves may open a new window into astrophysics and cosmology. We present a novel approach to circular-polarization search using linear-polarization-sensitive detectors by incorporating a QWP in the optics. The Simons Array was originally designed for precise linear polarization measurements, and we subsequently installed a QWP in front of the receiver targeting 90 GHz. The QWP converts incident circular polarization to linear polarization, allowing detection with our detectors. Laboratory measurements demonstrate a QWP conversion efficiency of 99.0%. We apply our method to observations of unpolarized and linearly polarized bright sources, Jupiter and Tau A. Using these observations, we establish the calibration and characterize the instrumental leakages relevant to circular polarization measurements. The measured polarization efficiency adopted for Stokes $V$ is $46\pm2$%, and the measured U-to-V leakage is $-11.7\pm5.1$%. We measure a circular polarization fraction of $V/I=0.78\pm0.42$% for Tau A, showing no significant detection and providing a consistency check of the calibration and systematic-uncertainty treatment. These results establish the instrument response model and calibration parameters used for the companion circular-polarization source search.