SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
We describe the development of antenna coupled bolometers for CMB polarization experiments. The necessary components of a bolometric CMB polarimeter - a beam forming element, a band defining filter, and detectors - are all fabricated on a silicon chip with photolithography.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) experiment aims to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales larger than a few degrees. Operating from Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it will observe over 65% of the sky at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. In this paper we discuss the design, construction, and characterization of the CLASS 38 GHz detector focal plane, the first ever Q-band bolometric polarimeter array.
Over the past three years NASA Marshall Space Flight Center has been collaborating with Brookhaven National Laboratory to develop a modular Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) intended for fine surface mapping of the light elements of the moon. The value of fluorescence spectrometry for surface element mapping is underlined by the fact that the technique has recently been employed by three lunar orbiter missions; Kaguya, Chandrayaan-1, and Chang e. The SDD-XRS instrument we have been developing can operate at a low energy threshold (i.e. is capable of detecting Carbon), comparable energy resolution to Kaguya (<150 eV at 5.9 keV) and an order of magnitude lower power requirement, making much higher sensitivities possible. Furthermore, the intrinsic radiation resistance of the SDD makes it useful even in radiation-harsh environments such as that of Jupiter and its surrounding moons.
Funding from the NASA Innovative Research Grant was used to develop bolometric detectors. As described in the proposal, silicon nitride micromesh ('spider-web') absorbers had been demonstrated at U.C. Berkeley but not developed to be flight-worthy devices. We proceeded to first fabricate bolometers with Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) Ge thermistors that demonstrated high optical coupling (Church et al. 1996) and were developed for a ground-based millimeter-wave receiver (Mauskopf et al. 1997). The next generation of devices used In bump-bonded thermistors to achieve devices with performance product NEP*sqrt(tau) = 3e - 18 j at 300 mK, demonstrating a full order of magnitude improvement over pervious devices. These devices achieved an NEP = 1e-18 W/rtHz (Murray et al. 1996) as promised in the proposal. Sensitivities as good as 1e - 19 W/rtHz appear achievable with the silicon nitride architecture (Bock et al. 1997). Finally, arrays of micromesh bolometers were shown to be feasible in the last year of the program by etching a large number of devices on a single silicon wafer (75 mm). Full arrays were subsequently demonstrated for selection on the ESA/NASA Far-Infrared Space Telescope (FIRST) in competition with detectors provided by CEA in France and GSFC in the US Micromesh bolometer arrays are now baselined for both the ESA/NASA Planck and FIRST missions.
Possible optical designs of imaging detectors for the spaceborne Schmidt telescope proposed by Carruthers et al. (1990) are discussed, surveying the currently or potentially available technology. Consideration is given to FUV electrographic detectors of large format (e.g., 120 mm with 10-micron resolution) using CsI photocathodes, the possible extension of the same technology to the mid-UV using Cs2Te instead of CsI, large CCD arrays for the visible and NIR, electron-bombarded CCDs for the FUV and mid-UV, and the data handling and processing requirements of these detectors.
InGaAs photodetectors have been configured into linear arrays of 30 x 30 micron photodetectors spaced 50 microns apart. The devices have typical responsivities of 0.9 A/W (86-percent QE) at 1.3 microns and exhibit room temperature dark currents below 100 pA. A 256-element array has been mounted in a Reticon multiplexer and configured into a PAR optical multichannel analyzer to extend spectral response out to 1.7 microns. Individual InGaAs detectors have been fabricated for response out to 2.2 microns with dark current below 1 microA (-1V) and 50-percent QE at room temperature.
We report the performance of the flight bolometer arrays for the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) instrument to be on board of the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO). We describe the test setup for the flight Bolometric Detector Assembly (BDA) that allows the characterization of its performance, both dark and optical, in one instrument’s cool down. We summarize the laboratory procedure to measure the basic bolometer parameters, optical response time, optical efficiency of bolometer and feedhorn, dark and optical noise, and the overall thermal conductance of the BDA unit. Finally, we present the test results obtained from the two flight units, Spectroscopic Long Wavelength (SLW) and Spectroscopic Short Wavelength (SSW).
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and its team - the University of Arizona (UA), the University of Rochester (UR), Santa Barbara Research Center (SBRC), Ames Research Center (ARC), and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) - are carrying out a research program with the goal of developing and optimizing infrared arrays in the 2-27 micron range for space infrared astronomy. This report summarizes research results for the entire grant period 1 January 1992 through 30 June 1996.
The performance of two multi-element, multiplexed Ge:Ga linear arrays under low-background conditions was investigated. The on-focal switching is accomplished by MOSFET switches, and the integrated charge is made available through MOSFET source followers. The tests were conducted at 106 microns, and the radiation on the detectors was confined to a spectral window 1.25 microns wide using a stack of cold filters. At 4.2 K, the highest responsivity was 584 A/W, the noise equivalent power was 1.0 x 10(exp -16) W/square root of Hz, and the read noise was 6100 electrons/sample. A detailed description of the test setup and procedure is presented.
The performance of a multielement Ge:Ga linear array under low-background conditions is investigated. On-focal plane switching is accomplished by MOSFET switches and the integrated charge is made available through MOSFET source followers. The tests were conducted at 106 microns and the radiation on the detectors was confined to a spectral window 1.25 microns wide using a stack of cold filters. At 4.2 K, the responsivity was measured to be nominally 584 A/W, and the NEP was 1.0 x 10 exp -16 W/sq rt Hz. A detailed description of the test setup and the procedure is presented.
For high resolution imaging and spectroscopy in the FIR and submillimeter, space observatories will demand sensitive, fast, compact, low-power detector arrays with 104 pixels and sensitivity less than 10(exp -20) W/Hz(sup 0.5). Antenna-coupled superconducting tunnel junctions with integrated rf single-electron transistor readout amplifiers have the potential for achieving this high level of sensitivity, and can take advantage of an rf multiplexing technique. The device consists of an antenna to couple radiation into a small superconducting volume and cause quasiparticle excitations, and a single-electron transistor to measure current through junctions contacting the absorber. We describe optimization of device parameters, and results on fabrication techniques for producing devices with high yield for detector arrays. We also present modeling of expected saturation power levels, antenna coupling, and rf multiplexing schemes.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Device employs sensitive photoelectric electrodes and solid-state memory, can be used at visible UV and X ray wavelengths, includes nonmagnetic proximity focusing, and is immune to high energy charged-particle background.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
An introduction to overall IR array concepts and particular array designs is presented, and examples of laboratory and observational data obtained with IR arrays are given. Hybrid array designs, extrinsic silicon accumulation-mode charge injection devices, and switched-FET or switched-sample photoconductor techniques are summarized. Three recent astronomical observation projects which used IR arrays are examined.
Detector systems based on the high gain microchannel plate (MCP) electron multiplier were used extensively for imaging at soft X-ray wavelengths both on the ground and in space. The latest pulse counting electronic readout systems provide zero readout noise, spatial resolutions (FWHM) of 25 microns or better and can determine the arrival times of detected photons to an accuracy of the order of 100 ns. These systems can be developed to produce detectors with active areas of 100 nm in diameter or greater. The use of CsI photocathodes produces very high detective quantum efficiencies at wavelengths between about 100 and 1A (approximately 0.1 to 10 keV) with moderate energy resolution. The operating characteristics of the different types of soft X-ray MCP detector systems are described and the prospects for future developments are discussed.
The development of a high density Schottky barrier Infrared Charged Coupled Device (IRCCD) type image sensor for earth observation was initiated. A dual band 512 pixel linear array was developed, which was capable of being butted end to end to make an arbitrarily long linear array. Measurement made on palladium silicide IRCCDs that were two-dimensional 63 x 32 pixel arrays were summarized. The test data on a 512 pixel linear array is also summarized.