SPT-SLIM: A Line Intensity Mapping Pathfinder for the South Pole Telescope

Abstract

The South Pole Telescope Summertime Line Intensity Mapper (SPT-SLIM) is a pathfinder experiment that will demonstrate the use of on-chip filter-bank spectrometers for mm-wave line intensity mapping. The SPT-SLIM focal plane consists of 18 dual-polarization filter-bank spectrometers covering 120–180 GHz with resolving power of 300, coupled to aluminum kinetic inductance detectors. A compact cryostat holds the detectors at 100 mK. SPT-SLIM will be deployed to the 10-m South Pole Telescope for observations during the 2023–2024 austral summer without removing the primary receiver. We discuss the overall instrument design, expected detector performance, and sensitivity to the carbon monoxide line signal at 0.5 < z< 2. The technology and observational techniques demonstrated by SPT-SLIM will enable next-generation line intensity mapping experiments that constrain cosmology beyond the redshift reach of galaxy surveys.