Antenna-Coupled Niobium Bolometers for MM-Wave Imaging Arrays

Published

November 1, 1999

Author(s)

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

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.

Proceedings Title

1999 Intl. Symp. on Optical Science, Eng. and Instrum., SPIE Proc. Conf. on Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics

Volume

3795

Conference Dates

July 18-23, 1999

Conference Location

Denver, CO, USA

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

antenna-coupled bolometers, millimeter-wave

Citation

Nolen, S. , Koch, J. , Paulter, N. , Reintsema, C. and Grossman, E. (1999), Antenna-Coupled Niobium Bolometers for MM-Wave Imaging Arrays, 1999 Intl. Symp. on Optical Science, Eng. and Instrum., SPIE Proc. Conf. on Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics, Denver, CO, USA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=16457 (Accessed October 14, 2025)