Speaker: Silvia Zhang (Caltech, USA)

Title: Development and Deployment of the BICEP Array BA2 150 GHz receiver 

Abstract:

The BICEP/Keck Collaboration is currently leading the quest to the highest sensitivity measurements of the polarized CMB with a series of cryogenic telescopes, of which BICEP Array is the latest Stage-3 upgrade with a total of 30k+ detectors. The instrument is comprised of 4 receivers at different frequencies spanning 30 to 270 GHz, with the low-frequency 30/40 GHz one already deployed to the South Pole Station in late 2019. The full complement of receivers is forecasted to set the most stringent constraints on the cosmological inflationary model and the overarching “small-aperture telescope” concept is already being used as the reference for further Stage-4 experiment design.  In this talk I will present the science goal of BICEP array, and the development and deployment of the BICEP Array 150 GHz BA2 experiment, spanning module development, readout design, cryostat testing, detector characterization, and finally deployment and installation at the South Pole during the 2022-2023 Antarctic season. I will also go into the non-technical aspects of both bringing an experiment down the South Pole,  and life in general in Antarctica.

Zoom Link:

https://zoom.us/j/3199318714?pwd=ZlV3VCsraHpYeGpIRlYwY2hEaU5Gdz09