We present the design, fabrication and measured performance of a hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array coupled to superconducting transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers for millimeter wavelengths. The architecture allows for dual-polarization wideband sensitivity with a beam width that is approximately frequency-independent. We report on measurements of a prototype device, which uses three levels of triangular phased arrays to synthesize beams that are approximately constant in width across three frequency bands covering a 3:1 bandwidth. The array element is a lens-coupled sinuous antenna. The device consists of an array of hemispherical lenses coupled to a lithographed wafer, which integrates TESs, planar sinuous antennas and microwave circuitry including band-defining filters. The approximately frequency-independent beam widths improve coupling to telescope optics and keep the the sensitivity of an experiment close to optimal across a broad frequency range. The design can be straightforwardly modified for use with non-TES lithographed cryogenic detectors such as kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). Additionally, we report on the design and measurements of a broadband 180-degree hybrid that can simplify the design of future multichroic focal planes including but not limited to hierarchical phased arrays.
@article{arxiv.1801.02543,
title = {Hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array for millimeter wavelengths},
author = {Ari Cukierman and Adrian T. Lee and Christopher Raum and Aritoki Suzuki and Benjamin Westbrook},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.02543},
year = {2018}
}