MRI: Development of 350 GHz instrumentation to characterize Galactic dust polarization with CCAT-prime

This project looks to build a new instrument for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) in Chile that is part of the CCAT-prime project. The instrument being developed will be installed on FYST to measure light at a wavelength of 0.9 millimeters (350 GHz). The measurements will help astronomers learn about properties of dust and magnetic fields in the Milky Way galaxy.

Understanding the Milky Way better will help researchers remove those signals from the foreground to study more distant light from the early Universe. Combining these results with other data will help understand the evolution of the Universe soon after the Big Bang. New research opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds and from community colleges are planned.

The new instrument for FYST will enable 350 GHz polarization measurements with the CCAT-prime project. It will be within an instrument module that includes three arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) and will provide the first polarization-sensitive measurements to exceed the current best 350 GHz data from the Planck satellite mission. This will be one of the largest scale deployments of KIDs yet, which will help advance this important technology for future applications.

The instrument module will be deployed in the Prime-Cam receiver cryostat on the six-meter aperture FYST at an elevation of 18,400 feet on Cerro Chajnantor in Chile. Improved 350 GHz polarization measurements are important for advancing our understanding of Galactic dust parameters, magnetic field properties, and molecular clouds where star formation occurs.

Uncertainties in these Galactic foreground sources limit constraints on the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves. Improving measurements of galactic foregrounds has the potential to reduce bias in future constraints on early Universe inflation. Developing and deploying the proposed instrumentation in a first light receiver for the CCAT-prime project will provide opportunities for training young researchers and lead to exciting astrophysical measurements from one of the best sub-millimeter sites on earth.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.