Image credit: Figure 1Abstract
Many experimental efforts are striving to provide deep maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to shed light on key questions in modern cosmology. The primary science goal for some of these experiments is to further constrain the energy scale of cosmic inflation. It has been shown that these experiments are particularly sensitive to optical systematics. Near-field vector beam mapping, or holography, is now employed in a variety of CMB-focused experimental efforts due to the technique’s ability to provide full details of electromagnetic field propagation through complex systems. In this proceeding, we describe the development of a measurement bench for millimeter-wave phase-sensitive beam mapping with the goal of characterizing optical components for CMB experiments. We discuss the testing of a beam scanner based on a 6-axis robot arm, the related custom control software, the readout architecture, and the overall validation of the system through various testing procedures. Dynamic range of 70 dB is demonstrated for the presented setup. With the current mechanical setup, we derive an upper limits of 45 μm on the absolute positioning error and 10 μm on positional repeatability.
Rustam Balafendiev
PhD Student
Rustam Balafendiev received the M.Sc. degree in radiophysics from the School of Physics and Engineering, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 2021. His current research interests include novel applications of wire metamaterials and holography experiments.
Thomas Gascard
Postdoc
In the hope to contribute to the current efforts of the Cosmology comunity to unveil the early stages of the Universe and its evolution, I did a PhD. in instrumentation for cosmology applications at Cardiff University, which covers design methods, fabrication and experimental characterisation of a Metamaterial-based Lenslet (MetaL) prototype coupled to an antenna fed detector plane. I then joined the CMBeam group to carry on experimental characterisation and qualification of optics for futur cosmology experiments.
Jón E. Guðmundsson
Assistant Professor
Assistant professor at the University of Iceland and senior research scientist at Stockholm University.