Transition-edge sensor arrays for UV-optical-IR astrophysics

Burney, Jennifer; Bay, T.J.; Barral, Joëlle K.; Brink, P. L.; Cabrera, B.; Castle, J. P.; Miller, Aaron J.; Nam, Sae Woo; Rosenberg, Danna; Romani, Roger W.; Tomada, A.

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2005.12.060

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This approach has been pursued in the past with two technologies, Superconducting Tunnel Junctions (STJs) [7,8] and Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) [9,10]. While both of these technologies produced functional detectors, they are limited to single pixels or small arrays due to the lack of a credible strategy for wiring and multiplexing large numbers of detectors, although recently there have been proposals for larger TES multiplexers [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MKIDs use frequency domain multiplexing [15] that allows thousands of pixels to be read out over a single microwave cable. While the largest STJ array is 120 pixels [16] and the largest optical TES array is 36 pixels [10], the MKID arrays described below are 1024 pixels, with a clear path to Megapixel arrays. The ability to easily reach large formats is the primary advantage of MKID arrays.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A superconducting focal plane array for ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared astrophysics

Mazin¹,

Bumble²,

Meeker³

et al. 2012

Opt. Express

142

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Abstract:Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, have proven to be a powerful cryogenic detector technology due to their sensitivity and the ease with which they can be multiplexed into large arrays. A MKID is an energy sensor based on a photon-variable superconducting inductance in a lithographed microresonator, and is capable of functioning as a photon detector across the electromagnetic spectrum as well as a particle detector. Here we describe the first successful effort to create a photon-counting, energy-resolving ultraviolet, optical, and near infrared MKID focal plane array. These new Optical Lumped Element (OLE) MKID arrays have significant advantages over semiconductor detectors like charge coupled devices (CCDs). They can count individual photons with essentially no false counts and determine the energy and arrival time of every photon with good quantum efficiency. Their physical pixel size and maximum count rate is well matched with large telescopes. These capabilities enable powerful new astrophysical instruments usable from the ground and space. MKIDs could eventually supplant semiconductor detectors for most astronomical instrumentation, and will be useful for other disciplines such as quantum optics and biological imaging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A superconducting focal plane array for ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared astrophysics

Mazin¹,

Bumble²,

Meeker³

et al. 2012

Opt. Express

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, it also was not arbitrarily generated. As discussed in Jenn Burney's thesis [79], the dependence of ρ on the current density, J, was generated from the BCS critical current equation. Hopefully, the qualitative features of phase separated dynamics and noise will be independent of this precise functional form.…”

Section: ∂R ∂Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing the design and analysis of cryogenic semiconductor dark matter detectors for maximum sensitivity

Pyle

2012

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For the past 15 years, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search or CDMS has searched for Weekly Interacting Massive Particle dark matter (WIMPs) using Ge and Si semiconductor crystals instrumented with both ionization and athermal phonon sensors so that the much more common electron recoil leakage caused by photons and βs from naturally present radioactive elements can be easily distinguished from elastic WIMP nucleon interactions by looking at the fraction of total recoil energy which ends up as potential energy of e − /h + pairs .Due to electronic carrier trapping at the surface of our semiconductor crystals, electron recoils which occur near the surface have suppressed ionization measurements and can not be distinguished from WIMP induced nuclear recoils and thus sensitivity to the WIMP nucleon interaction cross section was driven in CDMS II by our ability to define a full 3D fiducial volume in which all events had full collection. To remain background free and maximally sensitive to the WIMP-nucleus interaction cross section, we must improve our 3D fiducial volume definition at the same rate as we scale the mass of the detector, and thus proposed next generation experiments with an order of magnitude increase in active mass were unfortunately not possible with our previous CDMS II detector design, and a new design with significantly improved fiducialization performance is required.In this thesis, we illustrate how the complex E-field geometry produced by interdigitated electrodes at alternating voltage biases naturally encodes 3D fiducial volume information into the charge and phonon signals and thus is a natural geometry for our next generation dark matter detectors. Secondly, we will study in depth the physics of import to our devices including transition edge sensor dynamics, quasiparticle dynamics in our Al collection fins, and phonon physics in the crystal itself so that we can both understand the performance of our previous CDMS II device as well as optimize the design of our future devices. Of interest to the broader physics community is the derivation of the ideal athermal phonon detector resolution and it's T 3 c scaling behavior which suggests that the athermal phonon detector technology developed by CDMS could also be used to discover coherent neutrino scattering and iv search for non-standard neutrino interaction and sterile neutrinos. These proposed resolution optimized devices can also be used in searches for exotic MeV-GeV dark matter as well as novel background free searches for 8GeV light WIMPs.Initial performance studies of our first two next generation iZIP detectors at the University of California Berkeley CDMS test facility indicate that electron recoil surface event misidentification is < 2x10 −5 ± 2.5x10 −5 2x10 −5 (90%CL) for a recoil energy range of 8keV r -60keV r strongly indicating that z fiducial volume performance will not limit our WIMP sensitivity in next generation experiments. Furthermore, phonon only fiducial volume selections were created for nuclear recoil energies >2keV ...

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“…This approach has been pursued in the past with two technologies: Superconducting Tunnel Junctions (STJs) 2,3 and Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) 4,5 . While both of these technologies produced functional detectors, they have had difficulties with large array size due to the challenge of wiring and multiplexing large numbers of detectors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While both of these technologies produced functional detectors, they have had difficulties with large array size due to the challenge of wiring and multiplexing large numbers of detectors. Currently the largest STJ array is 120 pixels 6 and the largest optical TES array is 36 pixels 5 , although recently there have been proposals for larger TES multiplexers 7 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical lumped element microwave kinetic inductance detectors

Marsden

Mazin

Bumble

et al. 2012

High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy V

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Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, have proven to be a powerful cryogenic detector technology due to their sensitivity and the ease with which they can be multiplexed into large arrays. An MKID is an energy sensor based on a photon-variable superconducting inductance in a lithographed microresonator. It is capable of functioning as both a photon detector across the electromagnetic spectrum and a particle detector. We have recently demonstrated the world's first photon-counting, energy-resolving, ultraviolet, optical, and near infrared MKID focal plane array in the ARCONS camera at the Palomar 200" telescope. Optical Lumped Element (OLE) MKID arrays have significant advantages over semiconductor detectors such as charge coupled devices (CCDs). They can count individual photons with essentially no false counts and determine the energy (to a few percent) and arrival time (to ≈ 1µs) of every photon, with good quantum efficiency. Initial devices were degraded by substrate events from photons passing through the Titanium Nitride (TiN) material of the resonator and being absorbed in the substrate. Recent work has eliminated this issue, with a solution found to be increasing the thickness of the TiN resonator from 20 to 60 nm.

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Transition-edge sensor arrays for UV-optical-IR astrophysics

Cited by 26 publications

References 9 publications

A superconducting focal plane array for ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared astrophysics

A superconducting focal plane array for ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared astrophysics

Optimizing the design and analysis of cryogenic semiconductor dark matter detectors for maximum sensitivity

Optical lumped element microwave kinetic inductance detectors

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