Next generation bolometric microwave SQUID multiplexer

In the coming decades, satellite missions in the mm/sub-mm/FIR will require instruments with > 10^4 background-limited sensors, for which transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers are a proven, mature technology. However, the scalability of the technology is practically limited by the capabilities of SQUID-based multiplexing readout. We propose to develop microwave SQUID multiplexers (umux) capable of meeting the demands of the next generation of ultra-sensitive cameras. Current microwave SQUID multiplexers for bolometry achieve a multiplexing factor of approximately 10^3, which is a factor of ~5 larger than that of other technologies. Yet underutilization of the rf bandwidth leaves room for improvement in channel count. We propose multiple avenues of research to better optimize umux for bolometric applications: 1) To develop umux at lower frequencies, enabling narrower resonator bandwidths, 2) to develop a post-fabrication resonator editing technique to improve frequency scatter, enabling tighter frequency packing, and 3) to develop multi-SQUID resonators for hybrid multiplexing that combines signals from multiple bolometers in each resonator. Together, these research efforts should enable an order of magnitude improvement in the multiplexing factor. As a concrete target, we propose a design capable of reading out 3,200 bolometers in an octave of bandwidth, which may be expanded by use of hybrid multiplexing. The output of the research program would be a dramatic increase in the scalability of TES-based focal planes, which is highly relevant to NASA instruments such as the Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP) and the Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO).

The Astrophysics Research and Analysis program (APRA) supports suborbital and suborbital-class investigations, development of detectors and supporting technology, laboratory astrophysics, and limited ground based observing. Basic research proposals in these areas are solicited for investigations that are relevant to NASA's programs in astronomy and astrophysics, including the entire range of photons, gravitational waves, and particle astrophysics. The emphasis of this solicitation is on technologies and investigations that advance NASA astrophysics missions and goals.

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