Maturity of lumped element kinetic inductance detectors for space-borne instruments in the range between 80 and 180 GHz

¹ LPSC, Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, 38000 Grenoble, France
e-mail: catalano@lpsc.in2p3.fr
² Institut Néel, CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I, 25 rue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
³ Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), 38000 Grenoble, France
⁴ LNGS, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, via G. Acitelli 22, 67100 Assergi, L’ Aquila AQ, Italy
⁵ Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM), CNRS/IN2P3, Bât. 104 et 108, 91405 Orsay Campus, France

Received: 9 November 2015
Accepted: 26 April 2016

Abstract

This work intends to give the state-of-the-art of our knowledge of the performance of lumped element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) at millimetre wavelengths (from 80 to 180 GHz). We evaluate their optical sensitivity under typical background conditions that are representative of a space environment and their interaction with ionising particles. Two LEKID arrays, originally designed for ground-based applications and composed of a few hundred pixels each, operate at a central frequency of 100 and 150 GHz (Δν/ν about 0.3). Their sensitivities were characterised in the laboratory using a dedicated closed-cycle 100 mK dilution cryostat and a sky simulator, allowing for the reproduction of realistic, space-like observation conditions. The impact of cosmic rays was evaluated by exposing the LEKID arrays to alpha particles (²⁴¹Am) and X sources (¹⁰⁹Cd), with a read-out sampling frequency similar to those used for Planck HFI (about 200 Hz), and also with a high resolution sampling level (up to 2 MHz) to better characterise and interpret the observed glitches. In parallel, we developed an analytical model to rescale the results to what would be observed by such a LEKID array at the second Lagrangian point. We show that LEKID arrays behave adequately in space-like conditions with a measured noise equivalent power close to the cosmic microwave background photon noise and an impact of cosmic rays smaller with respect to those observed with Planck satellite detectors.