title: A readout for large arrays of microwave kinetic inductance detectors.
abstract: Microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) are superconducting detectors capable of counting single photons and measuring their energy in the UV, optical, and near-IR. MKIDs feature intrinsic frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) at microwave frequencies, allowing the construction and readout of large arrays. Due to the microwave FDM, MKIDs do not require the complex cryogenic multiplexing electronics used for similar detectors, such as transition edge sensors, but instead transfer this complexity to room temperature electronics where they present a formidable signal processing challenge. In this paper, we describe the first successful effort to build a readout for a photon counting optical/near-IR astronomical instrument, the ARray Camera for Optical to Near-infrared Spectrophotometry. This readout is based on open source hardware developed by the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research. Designed principally for radio telescope backends, it is flexible enough to be used for a variety of signal processing applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. mchugh@physics.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mazin
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Serfass
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meeker
authors.forename: Kieran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raffanti
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Werthimer