The Simons Observatory: Large-Scale Characterization of 90/150 GHz TES Detector Modules

• Main Authors: Dutcher, Daniel, Duff, Shannon M, Groh, John C, Healy, Erin, Hubmayr, Johannes, Johnson, Bradley R, Jones, Dante, Keller, Ben, Lin, Lawrence T, Link, Michael J, Lucas, Tammy J, Morgan, Samuel, Seino, Yudai, Sonka, Rita F, Staggs, Suzanne T, Wang, Yuhan, Zheng, Kaiwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29-01-2024
• Subjects: Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05583

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a cosmic microwave background instrumentation
suite being deployed in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The telescopes
within SO use three types of dichroic transition-edge sensor (TES) detector
arrays, with the 90 and 150 GHz Mid-Frequency (MF) arrays containing 65% of the
approximately 68,000 detectors in the first phase of SO. All of the 26 required
MF detector arrays have now been fabricated, packaged into detector modules,
and tested in laboratory cryostats. Across all modules, we find an average
operable detector yield of 84% and median saturation powers of (2.8, 8.0) pW
with interquartile ranges of (1, 2) pW at (90, 150) GHz, respectively, falling
within their targeted ranges. We measure TES normal resistances and
superconducting transition temperatures on each detector wafer to be uniform
within 3%, with overall central values of 7.5 mohm and 165 mK, respectively.
Results on time constants, optical efficiency, and noise performance are also
presented and are consistent with achieving instrument sensitivity forecasts.