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The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) experiment aims to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales larger than a few degrees. Operating from Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it will observe over 65% of the sky at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. In this paper we discuss the design, construction, and characterization of the CLASS 38 GHz detector focal plane, the first ever Q-band bolometric polarimeter array.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) instrument will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background at 40, 90, and 150 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the 40 GHz telescope system. The telescope is a diffraction limited catadioptric design consisting of a front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM), two ambient temperature mirrors, two cryogenic dielectric lenses, thermal blocking filters, and an array of 36 smooth-wall scalar feedhorn antennas. The feed horns guide the signal to antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Polarization diplexing and bandpass definition are handled on the same microchip as the TES. The feed horn beams are truncated with 10 dB edge taper by a 4 K Lyot-stop to limit detector loading from stray light and control the edge illumination of the front-end VPM. The field-of-view is 19deg x 14deg with a resolution for each beam on the sky of 1.5deg FWHM.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is an experiment to measure the signature of a gravita-tional-wave background from inflation in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CLASS is a multi-frequency array of four telescopes operating from a high-altitude site in the Atacama Desert in Chile. CLASS will survey 70% of the sky in four frequency bands centered at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz, which are chosen to straddle the Galactic-foreground minimum while avoiding strong atmospheric emission lines. This broad frequency coverage ensures that CLASS can distinguish Galactic emission from the CMB. The sky fraction of the CLASS survey will allow the full shape of the primordial B-mode power spectrum to be characterized, including the signal from reionization at low $ell$. Its unique combination of large sky coverage, control of systematic errors, and high sensitivity will allow CLASS to measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at a level of $r=0.01$ and make a cosmic-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to the surface of last scattering, $tau$.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) aims to detect and characterize the primordial B-mode signal and make a sample-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization. CLASS is a ground-based, multi-frequency microwave polarimeter that surveys 70% of the microwave sky every day from the Atacama Desert. The focal plane detector arrays of all CLASS telescopes contain smooth-walled feedhorns that couple to transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers through symmetric planar orthomode transducer (OMT) antennas. These low noise polarization-sensitive detector arrays are fabricated on mono-crystalline silicon wafers to maintain TES uniformity and optimize optical efficiency throughout the wafer. In this paper, we discuss the design and characterization of the first CLASS 93 GHz detector array. We measure the dark parameters, bandpass, and noise spectra of the detectors and report that the detectors are photon-noise limited. With current array yield of 82%, we estimate the total array noise-equivalent power (NEP) to be 2.1 aW$sqrt[]{mathrm{s}}$.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from inflation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, down to a level of 0.01 (95% C.L.).
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is an array of polarization-sensitive millimeter wave telescopes that observes ~70% of the sky at frequency bands centered near 40GHz, 90GHz, 150GHz, and 220GHz from the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Here, we describe the architecture of the software used to control the telescopes, acquire data from the various instruments, schedule observations, monitor the status of the instruments and observations, create archival data packages, and transfer data packages to North America for analysis. The computer and network architecture of the CLASS observing site is also briefly discussed. This software and architecture has been in use since 2016, operating the telescopes day and night throughout the year, and has proven successful in fulfilling its design goals.