Concepedia

Abstract

Superconducting transition edge bolometers on micromachined silicon membranes have been fabricated. The optical response is 580 V/W at a time constant of 0.4 ms. The detectivity D* is 3.8×109 (cm Hz1/2 W−1) at a temperature of 84.5 K and within the frequency regime 100<f<300 Hz. This is one of the fastest composite type bolometers ever reported. Upon thermal optimization, this type of detector should be competitive with state-of-the-art quantum detectors.