A measurement of the primordial B-mode polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background would provide direct evidence of inflation in the early universe. The extremely weak nature of the B-mode signal necessitates an instrument with a high sensitivity and precise control over systematic effects. Multi-mode antenna feed horns offer higher sensitivity than their single-mode counterparts, however their behaviour is much more complex. The Short Wavelength Instrument for the Polarisation Explorer (SWIPE) onboard the Large Scale Polarisation Explorer (LSPE) is one instrument planning to implement multi-mode feed horns. SWIPE will attempt to detect the primordial B-mode at large angular scales, measuring the sky in three bands at 140, 220 and 240 GHz. A single on-axis High-Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) lens and polarisation-splitting wire grid combine to focus the radiation from the sky onto two focal planes of multi-mode horns feeding bolometric detectors. A large diameter rotating metal-mesh half-wave plate allows both polarisations to be measured by the same pixel, therefore bypassing many detector systematics. Simulations are performed to predict the sky beam for two key pixels: closest to and furthest from the centre of the focal plane. For the 140 GHz channel the cross-polarisation is predicted, and the optimum location at which to place the telescopeâs focus behind the horn aperture to maximise gain and optimise beam shape is investigated. A measurement of the multi-mode horn is performed using a room-temperature bolometer. An investigation is also conducted to assess to what extent the same measurements can be performed using a coherent measurement system such as a vector network analyser. A working coherent measurement technique is devised, however it is limited to horns carrying only the first 3 modes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:740347 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Legg, Stephen |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/multimode-receiver-systems-for-cosmic-microwave-background-bmode-polarisation-experiments(11399beb-9f3d-455b-b236-7d612ab1a00b).html |
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