Development of transition edge superconducting bolometers for the SAFARI Far-Infrared spectrometer on the SPICA space-borne telescope

摘要

We describe the optimization of transition edge superconducting (TES) detectors for use in a far-infrared (FIR)Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) mounted on a cryogenically cooled space-borne telescope (e.g. SPICA).The required noise equivalent power (NEP) of the detectors is approximately 10~(-19)W/~(Hz)~(1/2) in order to belower than the photon noise from astrophysical sources in octave wide bands in the FIR. The detector timeconstants must be less than 10 ms in order to allow fast scanning of the FTS mechanism. The detectors consistof superconducting thermometers suspended on thin legs of thermally isolating silicon nitride and operate at atemperature of approximately 100 mK. We present the design of the detectors, a proposed focal plane layout andoptical coupling scheme and measurements of thermal conductance and time constant for low NEP prototypeTES bolometers.