RESEARCH PAPER
280-GHz aluminum MKID arrays for the Fred Young
Submillimeter Telescope
Anna K. Vaskuri ,
a,b,
* Jordan D. Wheeler ,
a
Jason E. Austermann ,
a
Michael R. Vissers ,
a
James A. Beall ,
a
James Burgoyne ,
c
Victoria Butler ,
d
Scott Chapman,
c
Steve K. Choi ,
e
Abigail Crites,
d
Cody J. Duell,
d
Rodrigo Freundt ,
f
Anthony Huber ,
g
Zachary B. Huber ,
d
Johannes Hubmayr ,
a
Jozsef Imrek,
a
Ben Keller ,
d
Lawrence Lin ,
d
Alicia Middleton,
d
Michael D. Niemack ,
d,f
Thomas Nikola,
h
Douglas Scott ,
c
Adrian Sinclair,
c
Ema Smith,
d
Gordon Stacey,
f
Joel Ullom ,
a
Jeffrey van Lanen,
a
Eve M. Vavagiakis ,
d,i
Samantha Walker ,
d
and Bugao Zou
j
a
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Quantum Sensors Division, Boulder, Colorado, United States
b
University of Colorado, Department of Physics, Boulder, Colorado, United States
c
University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
d
Cornell University, Cornell University Physics Department, Ithaca, New York, United States
e
University of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Riverside, California, United States
f
Cornell University, Cornell University Astronomy Department, Ithaca, New York, United States
g
University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
h
Cornell University, Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences, Ithaca, New York, United States
i
Duke University, Department of Physics, Durham, North Carolina, United States
j
Cornell University, Department of Applied and Engineering Physics, Ithaca, New York, United States
ABSTRACT.
First light observations of the 280-GHz instrument module of the Fred Young
Submillimeter Telescope in the CCAT Collaboration are expected in 2026. The focal
plane of this module will consist of three superconducting microwave kinetic induct-
ance detector (MKID) arrays: two aluminum-based arrays and one titanium nitride
array with a similar layout. We have designed, microfabricated, assembled, and
characterized a large-format aluminum-based MKID array. The responsivity of the
detectors matches design expectation and scales at various optical loading levels as
expected for aluminum. We have determined the internal quality factors and optical
efficiency of the detectors, feedhorn beam shape, and the detector band pass. The
detectors are photon noise limited with the majority of the noise being white photon
noise down to 1 Hz. The array matches simulated expectations and is ready for
sensitive astronomical observations for CCAT.
© The Authors. Publishe d by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original
publication, including its DOI. [DOI: 10.1117/1.JATIS.11.2.026005]
Keywords: aluminum microwave kinetic inductance detector; large-format micro-
wave kinetic inductance detector array; kinetic inductance; superconducting detec-
tor; millimeter-wave; polarimeter
Paper 25024G received Jan. 29, 2025; revised May 8, 2025; accepted May 8, 2025; published May
29, 2025.
1 Introduction
The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) of the CCAT Collaboration has a 6-m clear
aperture, and it is being constructed on Cerro Chajnantor in the Chilean Atacama Desert at an
elevation of 5600 m. Prime-Cam
1
is one of the two receivers being built for FYST, the other being
*Address all correspondence to Anna K. Vaskuri, anna.vaskuri@nist.gov
J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst. 026005-1 Apr–Jun 2025
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Vol. 11(2)
