215 research outputs found
Vibration Isolation Design for the Micro-X Rocket Payload
Micro-X is a NASA-funded, sounding rocket-borne X-ray imaging spectrometer
that will allow high precision measurements of velocity structure, ionization
state and elemental composition of extended astrophysical systems. One of the
biggest challenges in payload design is to maintain the temperature of the
detectors during launch. There are several vibration damping stages to prevent
energy transmission from the rocket skin to the detector stage, which causes
heating during launch. Each stage should be more rigid than the outer stages to
achieve vibrational isolation. We describe a major design effort to tune the
resonance frequencies of these vibration isolation stages to reduce heating
problems prior to the projected launch in the summer of 2014.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, LTD15 Conference Proceeding
Sterile Neutrinos, Coherent Scattering and Oscillometry Measurements with Low-temperature Bolometers
Coherent neutrino-nucleon scattering offers a unique approach in the search
for physics beyond the Standard Model. When used in conjunction with
mono-energetic neutrino sources, the technique can be sensitive to the
existence of light sterile neutrinos. The ability to utilize such reactions has
been limited in the past due to the extremely low energy threshold (10-50 eV)
needed for detection. In this paper, we discuss an optimization of cryogenic
solid state bolometers that enables reaching extremely low kinetic energy
thresholds. We investigate the sensitivity of an array of such detectors to
neutrino oscillations to sterile states. A recent analysis of available reactor
data appears to favor the existence of such such a sterile neutrino with a mass
splitting of eV and mixing strength of
at 95% C.L. An array of such
low-threshold detectors would be able to make a definitive statement as to the
validity of the interpretation.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Version 2: Temperature dependence on alpha
fixed from earlier versio
Vibration Isolation Design for the Micro-X Rocket Payload
Micro-X is a NASA-funded, sounding rocket-borne X-ray imaging spectrometer that will allow high precision measurements of velocity structure, ionization state and elemental composition of extended astrophysical systems. One of the biggest challenges in payload design is to maintain the temperature of the detectors during launch. There are several vibration damping stages to prevent energy transmission from the rocket skin to the detector stage, which causes heating during launch. Each stage should be more rigid than the outer stages to achieve vibrational isolation. We describe a major design effort to tune the resonance frequencies of these vibration isolation stages to reduce heating problems prior to the projected launch in the summer of 2014
MUSTANG: 90 GHz Science with the Green Bank Telescope
MUSTANG is a 90 GHz bolometer camera built for use as a facility instrument
on the 100 m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank radio telescope (GBT). MUSTANG has an 8
by 8 focal plane array of transition edge sensor bolometers read out using
time-domain multiplexed SQUID electronics. As a continuum instrument on a large
single dish MUSTANG has a combination of high resolution (8") and good
sensitivity to extended emission which make it very competitive for a wide
range of galactic and extragalactic science. Commissioning finished in January
2008 and some of the first science data have been collected.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figures, Presented at the SPIE conference on astronomical
instrumentation in 200
Validation of Phonon Physics in the CDMS Detector Monte Carlo
The SuperCDMS collaboration is a dark matter search effort aimed at detecting
the scattering of WIMP dark matter from nuclei in cryogenic germanium targets.
The CDMS Detector Monte Carlo (CDMS-DMC) is a simulation tool aimed at
achieving a deeper understanding of the performance of the SuperCDMS detectors
and aiding the dark matter search analysis. We present results from validation
of the phonon physics described in the CDMS-DMC and outline work towards
utilizing it in future WIMP search analyses.Comment: 6 Pages, 5 Figures, Proceedings of Low Temperature Detectors 14
Conferenc
Snowmass CF1 Summary: WIMP Dark Matter Direct Detection
As part of the Snowmass process, the Cosmic Frontier WIMP Direct Detection
subgroup (CF1) has drawn on input from the Cosmic Frontier and the broader
Particle Physics community to produce this document. The charge to CF1 was (a)
to summarize the current status and projected sensitivity of WIMP direct
detection experiments worldwide, (b) motivate WIMP dark matter searches over a
broad parameter space by examining a spectrum of WIMP models, (c) establish a
community consensus on the type of experimental program required to explore
that parameter space, and (d) identify the common infrastructure required to
practically meet those goals.Comment: Snowmass CF1 Final Summary Report: 47 pages and 28 figures with a 5
page appendix on instrumentation R&
Modeling a Three-Stage SQUID System in Space with the First Micro-X Sounding Rocket Flight
The Micro-X sounding rocket is a NASA funded X-ray telescope payload that
completed its first flight on July 22, 2018. This event marked the first
operation of Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) and their SQUID-based multiplexing
readout system in space. Unfortunately, due to an ACS pointing failure, the
rocket was spinning during its five minute observation period and no scientific
data was collected. However, data collected from the internal calibration
source marked a partial success for the payload and offers a unique opportunity
to study the response of TESs and SQUIDs in space. Of particular interest is
the magnetic field response of the NIST MUX06a SQUID readout system to tumbling
through Earth's magnetic field. We present a model to explain the baseline
response of the SQUIDs, which lead to a subset of pixels failing to "lock" for
the full observational period. Future flights of the Micro-X rocket will
include the NIST MUX18b SQUID system with dramatically reduced magnetic
susceptibility.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, LTD19 conference proceeding
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