5,658 research outputs found
Angular and Polarization Response of Multimode Sensors with Resistive-Grid Absorbers
High sensitivity receiver systems with near ideal polarization sensitivity
are highly desirable for development of millimeter and sub-millimeter radio
astronomy. Multimoded bolometers provide a unique solution to achieve such
sensitivity, for which hundreds of single-mode sensors would otherwise be
required. The primary concern in employing such multimoded sensors for
polarimetery is the control of the polarization systematics. In this paper, we
examine the angular- and polarization- dependent absorption pattern of a thin
resistive grid or membrane, which models an absorber used for a multimoded
bolometer. The result shows that a freestanding thin resistive absorber with a
surface resistivity of \eta/2, where \eta\ is the impedance of free space,
attains a beam pattern with equal E- and H-plane responses, leading to zero
cross polarization. For a resistive-grid absorber, the condition is met when a
pair of grids is positioned orthogonal to each other and both have a
resistivity of \eta/2. When a reflective backshort termination is employed to
improve absorption efficiency, the cross-polar level can be suppressed below
-30 dB if acceptance angle of the sensor is limited to <60degrees. The small
cross-polar systematics have even-parity patterns and do not contaminate the
measurements of odd-parity polarization patterns, for which many of recent
instruments for cosmic microwave background are designed. Underlying symmetry
that suppresses these cross-polar systematics is discussed in detail. The
estimates and formalism provided in this paper offer key tools in the design
consideration of the instruments using the multimoded polarimeters.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figure
Two stage superconducting quantum interference device amplifier in a high-Q gravitational wave transducer
We report on the total noise from an inductive motion transducer for a
gravitational-wave antenna. The transducer uses a two-stage SQUID amplifier and
has a noise temperature of 1.1 mK, of which 0.70 mK is due to back-action noise
from the SQUID chip. The total noise includes thermal noise from the transducer
mass, which has a measured Q of 2.60 X 10^6. The noise temperature exceeds the
expected value of 3.5 \mu K by a factor of 200, primarily due to voltage noise
at the input of the SQUID. Noise from flux trapped on the chip is found to be
the most likely cause.Comment: Accepted by Applied Physics Letters tentatively scheduled for March
13, 200
Galactic Archaeology with TESS: Prospects for Testing the Star Formation History in the Solar Neighbourhood
A period of quenching between the formation of the thick and thin disks of
the Milky Way has been recently proposed to explain the observed
age-[{\alpha}/Fe] distribution of stars in the solar neighbourhood. However,
robust constraints on stellar ages are currently available for only a limited
number of stars. The all-sky survey TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite) will observe the brightest stars in the sky and thus can be used to
investigate the age distributions of stars in these components of the Galaxy
via asteroseismology, where previously this has been difficult using other
techniques. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether TESS
will be able to provide evidence for quenching periods during the star
formation history of the Milky Way. Using a population synthesis code, we
produced populations based on various stellar formation history models and
limited the analysis to red-giant-branch stars. We investigated the
mass-Galactic-disk-height distributions, where stellar mass was used as an age
proxy, to test for whether periods of quenching can be observed by TESS. We
found that even with the addition of 15% noise to the inferred masses, it will
be possible for TESS to find evidence for/against quenching periods suggested
in the literature (e.g. between 7 and 9 Gyr ago), therefore providing stringent
constraints on the formation and evolution of the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of "Seismology of the Sun and the
Distant Stars 2016", Mario J. P. F. G. Monteiro, Margarida S. Cunha, Joao
Miguel T. Ferreira editor
Results of Osteochondral Autologous Transplantation in the Knee
Repair of full thickness defects of articular cartilage in the knee is difficult but important to prevent progression to osteoarthritis. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical results of Osteochondral Autograft Transplant System (OATS) treatment for articular defects of the knee
Magnetic Calorimeter Option for the Lynx X-Ray Microcalorimeter
One option for the detector technology to implement the Lynx x-ray microcalorimeter (LXM) focal plane arrays is the metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC). Two-dimensional imaging arrays of MMCs measure the energy of x-ray photons by using a paramagnetic sensor to detect the temperature rise in a microfabricated x-ray absorber. While small arrays of MMCs have previously been demonstrated that have energy resolution better than the 3 eV requirement for LXM, we describe LXM prototype MMC arrays that have 55,800 x-ray pixels, thermally linked to 5688 sensors in hydra configurations, and that have sensor inductance increased to avoid signal loss from the stray inductance in the large-scale arrays when the detectors are read out with microwave superconducting quantum interference device multiplexers, and that use multilevel planarized superconducting wiring to provide low-inductance, low-crosstalk connections to each pixel. We describe the features of recently tested MMC prototype devices and simulations of expected performance in designs opti- mized for the three subarray types in LXM
Superconducting Films for Absorber-Coupled MKID Detectors for Sub-Millimeter and Far-Infrared Astronomy
We describe measurements of the properties, at dc, gigahertz, and terahertz frequencies, of thin (10 nm) aluminum films with 10 ohm/{rm square}$ normal state sheet resistance. Such films can be applied to construct microwave kinetic inductance detector arrays for submillimeter and far-infrared astronomical applications in which incident power excites quasiparticles directly in a superconducting resonator that is configured to present a matched-impedance to the high frequency radiation being detected. For films 10 nm thick, we report normal state sheet resistance, resistance-temperature curves for the superconducting transition, quality factor and kinetic inductance fraction for microwave resonators made from patterned films, and terahertz measurements of sheet impedance measured with a Fourier Transform Spectrometer. We compare properties with similar resonators made from niobium 600 nm thick
Multimode bolometer development for the PIXIE instrument
The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) is an Explorer-class mission
concept designed to measure the polarization and absolute intensity of the
cosmic microwave background. In the following, we report on the design,
fabrication, and performance of the multimode polarization-sensitive bolometers
for PIXIE, which are based on silicon thermistors. In particular we focus on
several recent advances in the detector design, including the implementation of
a scheme to greatly raise the frequencies of the internal vibrational modes of
the large-area, low-mass optical absorber structure consisting of a grid of
micromachined, ion-implanted silicon wires. With times the absorbing
area of the spider-web bolometers used by Planck, the tensioning scheme enables
the PIXIE bolometers to be robust in the vibrational and acoustic environment
at launch of the space mission. More generally, it could be used to reduce
microphonic sensitivity in other types of low temperature detectors. We also
report on the performance of the PIXIE bolometers in a dark cryogenic
environment.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Precision control of thermal transport in cryogenic single-crystal silicon devices
We report on the diffusive-ballistic thermal conductance of multi-moded
single-crystal silicon beams measured below 1 K. It is shown that the phonon
mean-free-path is a strong function of the surface roughness
characteristics of the beams. This effect is enhanced in diffuse beams with
lengths much larger than , even when the surface is fairly smooth, 5-10
nm rms, and the peak thermal wavelength is 0.6 m. Resonant phonon
scattering has been observed in beams with a pitted surface morphology and
characteristic pit depth of 30 nm. Hence, if the surface roughness is not
adequately controlled, the thermal conductance can vary significantly for
diffuse beams fabricated across a wafer. In contrast, when the beam length is
of order , the conductance is dominated by ballistic transport and is
effectively set by the beam area. We have demonstrated a uniformity of 8%
in fractional deviation for ballistic beams, and this deviation is largely set
by the thermal conductance of diffuse beams that support the
micro-electro-mechanical device and electrical leads. In addition, we have
found no evidence for excess specific heat in single-crystal silicon membranes.
This allows for the precise control of the device heat capacity with normal
metal films. We discuss the results in the context of the design and
fabrication of large-format arrays of far-infrared and millimeter wavelength
cryogenic detectors
Characterising rhamnolipid production in Burkholderia thailandensis E264, a non-pathogenic producer
Burkholderia thailandensis E264 is a rhamnolipid (RL)-producing gram-negative bacterium first isolated from the soils and stagnant waters of central and north-eastern Thailand. Growth of B. thailandensis E264 under two different incubation temperatures (25 and 30 °C) resulted in a significantly higher dry cell biomass production at 30 °C (7.71 g/l) than at 25 °C (4.75 g/l) after 264 h; however, incubation at the lower temperature resulted in consistently higher concentration of RL production throughout the growth period. After 264 h, the concentration of crude RL extract for the 25 °C culture was 2.79 g/l compared to 1.99 g/l for the 30 °C culture. Overall RL production concentration after 264 h was 0.258 g/g dry cell biomass (DCB) for the 30 °C culture compared to 0.587 g/g DCB for the 25 °C culture. Real-time PCR (qPCR) was also used to analyse expression of the RL biosynthesis genes throughout the incubation period at 25 °C showing that the expression of the rhlA, rhlB and rhlC genes is continuous. During the log and early stationary phases of growth, expression levels remain low and are increased upon entry to the late stationary phase. B. thailandensis E264 produces mostly di-RLs and the Di-RL C14-C14 in most abundance (41.88 %). Fermentations were also carried out in small-scale bioreactors (4 l working volume) under controlled conditions, and results showed that RL production was maintained. Our findings show that B. thailandensis E264 has excellent potential for industrial scale RL production
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