BICEP2 builds on the small aperture telescope design of BICEP1, but greatly increases the number of detectors to increase mapping speed. The BICEP2 detectors are polarization sensitive bolometers made from a pair of transition edge sensors coupled to orthogonal phased antenna arrays. The transition edge sensors provide background-limited sensitivity at the observing frequency of 150 GHz while antenna arrays improve the scalability of the design.

BICEP2 operated from the Dark Sector Lab at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station from January 2010 through December 2012.

News from the Pole

All papers and data are available at bicepkeck.org.