Antenna-coupled niobium bolometers for millimeter-wave imaging arrays

Shalva Nolen; Jonathan A. Koch; Nicholas G. Paulter; Carl D. Reintsema; Erich N. Grossman

doi:10.1117/12.370173

12 November 1999 Antenna-coupled niobium bolometers for millimeter-wave imaging arrays

Shalva Nolen, Jonathan A. Koch, Nicholas G. Paulter, Carl D. Reintsema, Erich N. Grossman

Proceedings Volume 3795, Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.370173
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

Antenna-coupled thin-film niobium microbolometers designed for mm-wave imaging arrays have been fabricated and their electrical properties measured. The niobium bolometers are operated at room temperature and are located at the feeds of half-wave dipole antennas on an electrically thick silicon substrate. We independently measured the resistance of the microbolometers as a function of temperature and the dynamic resistance as a function of DC bias current, yielding the electrical responsivity and thermal conductance of the bolometers. The latter is dominated by conduction through a deposited SiO₂ isolation layer. We describe electrical measurements of the bolometers' pulse response and noise, performed by illuminating the bolometers with a high power, pulsed mm-wave source. We discuss these measurements in the context of the pulsed detection architecture planned for an active mm-wave imaging system currently under development.

Citation Download Citation

Shalva Nolen, Jonathan A. Koch, Nicholas G. Paulter, Carl D. Reintsema, and Erich N. Grossman "Antenna-coupled niobium bolometers for millimeter-wave imaging arrays", Proc. SPIE 3795, Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics, (12 November 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.370173

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