Infrared detection with high-[Tc] bolometers and response of Nb tunnel junctions to picosecond voltage pulses

Technical Report · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6120573· OSTI ID:6120573

Verghese, S

Oxide superconductors with high critical temperature [Tc] make sensitive thermometers for several types of infrared bolometers. The authors built composite bolometers with YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7[minus][delta]] thermometers on sapphire substrates which have higher sensitivity than competing thermal detectors which operate at temperatures above 77 K. A 1 x 1 mm bolometer with gold black serving as the radiation absorber has useful sensitivity for wavelengths 20--100 [mu]m. A 3 x 3 mm bolometer with a bismuth film as the absorber operates from 20--100 [mu]m. High-[Tc] bolometers which are fabricated with micromachining techniques on membranes of Si or Si[sub 3]N[sub 4] have potential application to large-format arrays which are used for infrared imaging. A nonisothermal high-[Tc] bolometer can be fabricated on a membrane of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) which is in thermal contact with the heat sink along the perimeter of the membrane. A thermal analysis indicates that the YSZ membrane bolometer can have improved sensitivity compared to the sapphire bolometer for spectrometer applications. The quasiparticle tunneling current in a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junction is highly nonlinear in the applied voltage. The authors have made the first measurement of the linear response of the quasiparticle current in a Nb/AlO[sub x]/Nb junction over a broad bandwidth from 75--200 GHz. Nonlinear measurements made with these pulses may provide information about the quasiparticle lifetime. Preliminary data from such measurements are presented.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6120573
• Report Number(s): LBL-34171; ON: DE93016963
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BOLOMETERS
DESIGN
INFRARED RADIATION
RADIATION DETECTION
SUPERCONDUCTING JUNCTIONS
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
BARIUM OXIDES
BISMUTH
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COPPER OXIDES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FABRICATION
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
NIOBIUM
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
QUASI PARTICLES
SAPPHIRE
SENSITIVITY
SPECTROMETERS
SUBSTRATES
THERMAL ANALYSIS
THERMOMETERS
TUNNEL EFFECT
USES
YTTRIUM OXIDES
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
CORUNDUM
DATA
DETECTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
EVALUATION
FUNCTIONS
INFORMATION
JUNCTIONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
MINERALS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
SUPERCONDUCTORS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
ZIRCONIUM COMPOUNDS
440500* - Thermal Instrumentation- (1990-)
665412 - Superconducting Devices- (1992-)