GroundBIRD: observations of CMB polarization with fast scan modulation and MKIDs
Polarized patterns in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation contains rich knowledge for early stage of the universe. In particular their odd parity patterns at large angular scale 1deg) primordial B modes, are smoking gun evidence for the cosmic inflation. The GroundBIRD experiment aims to detect these B modes with a ground based apparatus that includes several novel devices: a high speed rotational scan system, cold optics, and microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) We plan to start observations in the Canary Islands in 2017. In this paper, we present the status of the development of our instruments. We established an environment that allows operation of our MKIDs in an optical configuration, in which the MKIDs observe radiations from the outside of the telescope aperture. We have also constructed MKID prototypes, and we are testing them in the optical configuration.
Astronomical Telescopes Instrumentation