The Nika 2011 Run: Results And Perspectives Towards A Permanent Camera For The Pico Veleta Observatory

The Neel Iram Kids Array (NIKA) is a prototype instrument devoted to millimetric astronomy that has been designed to be mounted at the focal plane of the IRAM 30 m telescope at Pico Veleta (Spain). After the runs of 2009 and 2010, we carried a third technical run in October 2011. In its latest configuration, the instrument consists of a dual-band camera, with bands centered at 150 GHz and 220 GHz, each of them equipped with 116 pixels based on Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors. During the third run we tested many improvements that will play a crucial role in the development of the final, kilopixel sized camera. In particular, a new geometry based on a Hilbert curve has been adopted for the absorbing area of the LEKIDs, that makes the detectors dual-polarization sensitive. Furthermore, a different acquisition strategy has been adopted, which has allowed us to increase the photometric accuracy of the measurements, a fundamental step in order to get scientifically significant data. In this paper we describe the main characteristics of the 2011 NIKA instrument and outline some of its key features, discusse the results we obtained and give a brief outlook on the future NIKA camera which will be installed permanently on site.