A 90-GHz array for use on the Green Bank Telescope

We are constructing an 8 by 8 bolometer camera, as a 90 GHz facility instrument for the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The bolometers use transition-edge-superconducting (TES) sensors read out with a time-based SQUID multiplexing system. The receiver will be one of the first astronomical instruments to use such detectors. Our TES bolometers require cooling below 290 mK. To obtain these temperatures we use He3 and He4 sorption refrigerators that cycle from a two-stage pulse-tube cryocooler. The He3 stage has an operating temperature of 252 mK and a hold time of 77 hours with a 10 microwatt load. A combination of the large collecting area of the GBT and the low noise of the detectors will enable us to map 15 arcsecond by 15 arcsecond areas of sky to 200 microJansky in one hour.

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