Development and characterization of a TES optical imaging array for astrophysics applications

✍ Scribed by Burney, J; Bay, T.J; Brink, P.L; Cabrera, B; Castle, J.P; Romani, R.W; Tomada, A; Nam, S.W; Miller, A.J; Martinis, J; Wang, E; Kenny, T; Young, B.A

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 242 KB
• Volume: 520
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0168-9002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2003.11.307

✦ Synopsis

Our research group has successfully developed photon detectors capable of both time-stamping and energy-resolving individual photons at very high rates in a wide band from the near-IR through optical and into the near-UV. We have fabricated 32-pixel arrays of these Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) devices and have mounted them in an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator equipped with windows for direct imaging. We have characterized single pixel behavior; we have also begun operating multiple pixels simultaneously, starting the scaling process towards use of the full array. We emphasize the development of a metalized mask for our array that blocks photons from hitting the inter-pixel areas and reflects them onto the TESs. We also present calibration data on detector resolution, electronics noise, and optical alignment.