The BICEP3 millimeter-wave polarimeter : measuring the cosmic microwave background from the South Pole
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- BICEP3 is a 52 cm aperture, two-lens refracting telescope designed to observe the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 95 GHz (3.2 mm). By searching for the B-mode polarization pattern of the CMB at degree angular scales, BICEP3 probes signatures of primordial gravitational waves in the early universe that are linked to inflation. Its focal plane consists of modularized detector arrays of antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. All of the detectors and optics are operated at cryogenic temperatures in a single cryostat receiver, with the focal plane held at 274 mK. BICEP3 is currently completing its second observing season from its South Pole observing site. The instrument is an evolution of the previous generation design that expands the per-receiver detector count by 5x to 2560. This thesis covers the design, key technologies, integration, and deployment of BICEP3 through its first two observation seasons, and presents the preliminary detector performance. It details the improvements implemented after the initial engineering season that have increased the CMB observation duty cycle and total instantaneous sensitivity.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Grayson, James Andrew |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics. |
| Primary advisor | Byer, R. L. (Robert L.), 1942- |
| Primary advisor | Kuo, Chao-Lin |
| Thesis advisor | Byer, R. L. (Robert L.), 1942- |
| Thesis advisor | Kuo, Chao-Lin |
| Thesis advisor | Irwin, Kent |
| Advisor | Irwin, Kent |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | James Andrew Grayson. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by James Grayson
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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