Studies of the Cosmos Using Spiderweb Absorber Transition Edge Sensor

• Main Author: Westbrook, Benjamin
• Other Authors: Lee, Adrian T
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2014
• Subjects: Physics; bolometers; cosmology; experimentation; fabrication; inflation; tes; Austral; McMurdo Station; Westbrook; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0xh3r73f

Transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer technology has been at the core of advancementsin experimental cosmic microwave background (CMB) science for thepast few decades. Theoretical and experimental work has built a robust model ofthe universe. Despite tremendous progress, there are several key pieces of experimentalevidence missing to complete our understanding of the universe. This dissertationcovers the work done by Benjamin Grey Westbrook at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley between 2007 and 2014. It is centered around the use of spider-web absorbertransition edge sensor (SWATES) bolometers to study the cosmos by theAtcama Pathnder Experiment - Sunyaev Zel'dolvich (APEX-SZ) and the E andB Experiment (EBEX). Both of which help complete our model of the universe incomplimentary ways.APEX-SZ is a ground-based experiment that made observations of galaxy clustersvia the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Eect from the Chajnantor Plateau in Northern Chilefrom 2005 to 2010. It observed galaxy clusters at 150 GHz with 300 SWATES detectorswith a resolution of 10. Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally boundobjects in the present day universe and are excellent for studying the properties ofthe universe. The primary goal of APEX-SZ was to understand the complex physicsof galaxy clusters. By understanding their composition, number density, and evolutionwe can better our understanding of the evolution of the universe into its presentstate.EBEX is a balloon-borne experiment that made observations of the CMB andcosmic foreground during a science ight from the Long Duration Balloon (LDB)facility outside of McMurdo Station, Antarctica over the 2012-2013 austral summer.It made observations of 6000 square degrees of sky using 872, 436, and 256 SWATESbolometers at 150, 250, and 410 GHz detectors (respectively) with 80 resolution