Fabrication and performance verification of a 961 pixel Kinetic Inductance Detector system for future space borne observatories 9914-138

Astronomical observations at infrared, sub-millimetre, and millimetre wavelengths are essential for addressing many of the key questions in astrophysics. Future ground- and space based observatories need large detector arrays with a sensitivity limited only by the noise of the radiation background. We demonstrate that antenna coupled Microwave...

A Wideband Leaky Lens Antenna with Frequency-Stable Beams for DESHIMA Spectrometer

DESHIMA (Deep Spectroscopic High-redshift Mapper) is an instrument aiming at efficiently making spectroscopic redshift measurements of sub-mm wave galaxies (SMGs), thereby providing about the formation and the evolution of stars and galaxies. The aim of this work is to provide a preliminary study into the design of a wideband leaky lens antenna...

A kilo-pixel imaging system for future space based far-infrared observatories using microwave kinetic inductance detectors

Aims. Future astrophysics and cosmic microwave background space missions operating in the far-infrared to millimetre part of the spectrum will require very large arrays of ultra-sensitive detectors in combination with high multiplexing factors and efficient low-noise and low-power readout systems. We have developed a demonstrator system suitable...

The non-equilibrium response of a superconductor to pair-breaking radiation measured over a broad frequency band

We have measured the absorption of terahertz radiation in a BCS superconductor over a broad range of frequencies from 200 GHz to 1.1 THz, using a broadband antenna-lens system and a tantalum microwave resonator. From low frequencies, the response of the resonator rises rapidly to a maximum at the gap edge of the superconductor. From there on,...

Fluctuations in the electron system of a superconductor exposed to a photon flux

In a superconductor, in which electrons are paired, the density of unpaired electrons should become zero when approaching zero temperature. Therefore, radiation detectors based on breaking of pairs promise supreme sensitivity, which we demonstrate using an aluminium superconducting microwave resonator. Here we show that the resonator also...