NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.

Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PUBLICATIONS

Towards a fiber-coupled picowatt cryogenic radiometer

Published

Author(s)

Nathan A. Tomlin, John H. Lehman, Sae Woo Nam

Abstract

A picowatt cryogenic radiometer (PCR) has been fabricated at the microscale level for electrical substitution optical fiber power measurements. The absorber, electrical heater, and thermometer are all on a micromachined membrane less than 1mm on a side. Initial measurements with input powers from 50 fW to 20 nW show a response inequivalence between electrical and optical power of 8%. A comparison of the response to electrical and optical input powers between 15 pW to 70 pW yields a repeatability better than {+or-} 0.3 % (k = 2). From our first optical tests, the system has a noise equivalent power of ≅5× 10-15 W∕ √Hz at 2 Hz, but simple changes to the measurement scheme should yield an NEP 2 orders of magnitude lower.
Citation
Applied Physics Letters
Volume
37
Issue
12
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

absolute cryogenic radiometer, picowatt, pW, transition-edge sensor, TES, ACR, radiometer

Citation

Tomlin, N. , Lehman, J. and Nam, S. (2012), Towards a fiber-coupled picowatt cryogenic radiometer, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=910378 (Accessed October 11, 2025)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact [email protected].

Created June 11, 2012, Updated February 19, 2017
Was this page helpful?