280 GHz receivers for the SPIDER CMB polarimeter

The SPIDER instrument is optimized to search for a degree-scale B-mode polarization signature in the cosmic microwave background left by primordial gravitational waves. A positive detection of the B-mode signature would provide a window to the early universe and discriminate among inflation models. During its first flight in 2015, SPIDER mapped approximately 10 percent of the sky at 95 and 150 GHz. This dissertation covers the second flight of the SPIDER instrument, from the hardware upgrades and integration through launch and a preliminary analysis of the 280 GHz detector performance. SPIDER's second flight from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in December 2022-January 2023, deployed over 2,500 detectors distributed across three 280 GHz receivers, two 95 GHz receivers, and one 150 GHz receiver. With the addition of the 280 GHz band, SPIDER is poised to make a state-of-the-art measurement of the Galactic foregrounds that contaminate the cosmological signal.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Shaw, Elle Claire

Contributors dc:contributor

• Filippini, Jeffrey P
• Vieira, Joaquin
• Adshead, Peter J
• Eckstein, James N

• Cosmic Microwave Background
• Millimeter-wave Instrumentation
• Scientific Ballooning
• Cosmology
• Polarization
• Telescopes

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Elle Shaw

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121971

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121971