Chessboard Focal Plane Array for a CMOS-Integrated Terahertz Camera

This article presents the development of a focal plane array (FPA) for terahertz imaging applications with a near diffraction-limited resolution achieved through a very tight sampling of the focal plane. The antenna array is integrated with direct detectors in a 22-nm CMOS technology and operates from 200 to 600 GHz. The tight sampling of the...

DESHIMA 2.0: Development of an Integrated Superconducting Spectrometer for Science-Grade Astronomical Observations

Integrated superconducting spectrometer (ISS) technology will enable ultra-wideband, integral-field spectroscopy for (sub)millimeter-wave astronomy, in particular, for uncovering the dust-obscured cosmic star formation and galaxy evolution over cosmic time. Here, we present the development of DESHIMA 2.0, an ISS for ultra-wideband...

Ultra-sensitive THz microwave kinetic inductance detectors for future space telescopes

Aims. Future actively cooled space-borne observatories for the far-infrared, loosely defined as a 1-10 THz band, can potentially reach a sensitivity limited only by background radiation from the Universe. This will result in an increase in observing speed of many orders of magnitude. A spectroscopic instrument on such an observatory requires...

DESHIMA on ASTE: On-Sky Responsivity Calibration of the Integrated Superconducting Spectrometer

We are developing an ultra-wideband spectroscopic instrument, DESHIMA (DEep Spectroscopic HIgh-redshift MApper), based on the technologies of an on-chip filter bank and microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) to investigate dusty starburst galaxies in the distant universe at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. An on-site experiment of...

Wideband on-chip terahertz spectrometer based on a superconducting filterbank

Terahertz spectrometers with a wide instantaneous frequency coverage for passive remote sensing are enormously attractive for many terahertz applications, such as astronomy, atmospheric science, and security. Here we demonstrate a wide-band terahertz spectrometer based on a single superconducting chip. The chip consists of an antenna coupled...

Reception Power Pattern of Distributed Absorbers in Focal Plane Arrays: A Fourier Optics Analysis

Passive imaging cameras at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are currently entering a new era with the development of large format arrays of direct detectors. Several of these arrays are being developed with bare absorbing meshes without any antenna coupling (lens or horn) structures. The design of such arrays is typically done...

Antenna Coupled MKID Performance Verification at 850 GHz for Large Format Astrophysics Arrays

Next generation sub-mm imaging instruments require kilo-pixel focal plane arrays filled with background limited detectors. Microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) are a state-of-the-art detector for future instruments due to their inherent multiplexing capabilities. An MKID consists of a superconducting resonator coupled to a feed-line...

Incoherent Detection of Orthogonal Polarizations via an Antenna Coupled MKID: Experimental Validation at 1.55 THz

There is an increasing demand for large format detector arrays with large bandwidths and high antenna efficiencies for future THz astronomical radiometric applications. For direct detection instruments, it is also desired to have antennas with dual polarization reception in order to increase the received power from incoherent sources, thereby...

Dual Band Kinetic Inductance Bolometers for Submillimeter-wave Imaging: Experimental and Theoretical Optical Response

In this contribution, a focal plane array (FPA) at submillimeter wavelengths is presented for security applications. The detectors are based on kinetic inductance bolometers. Two frequency selective absorber (FSA) sets were designed to implement a security imager. The effective pattern of the imager coupled to a black body point source over a...

A Dual Band Focal Plane Array of Kinetic Inductance Bolometers Based on Frequency Selective Absorbers

Passive imaging cameras at sub-millimeter wavelengths with large format focal plane arrays are being developed as the next generation of security screening systems. In this contribution, a dual-band focal plane array (FPA) for security imagers at submillimeter wave frequencies is presented. The detectors are based on bolometric...

Full characterisation of a background limited antenna coupled KID over an octave of bandwidth for THz radiation

We present the design, fabrication, and full characterisation (sensitivity, beam pattern, and frequency response) of a background limited broadband antenna coupled kinetic inductance detector covering the frequency range from 1.4 to 2.8 THz. This device shows photon noise limited performance with a noise equivalent power of 2.5 × 10<sup>-19<...

Characterization of the THz quasi-optical channel for the measurement of the power radiated by photoconductive antennas

In this paper a rigorous electromagnetic characterization of the setup for measuring the THz power radiated by pulsed photoconductive antenna is discussed. Such characterization is expressed in terms of efficiencies which quantify how much power is lost in the coupling between the various components involved in the measurement setup. The...

Analysis of Absorber Based Imaging Systems with Distributed Incoherent Sources

Passive imaging cameras at sub-millimeter wave-lengths are currently entering a new era with the development of large format arrays of direct detectors. Several of these arrays are being developed with bare absorbing meshes without any antenna coupling (lens or horn) structures. This paper uses a spectral electromagnetic model to analyze the...

Wideband Single Pixel Radiometer in CMOS

The design and performance analysis are presented for a passive uncooled radiometer pixel suitable for integration in 28 nm CMOS technology. In the configuration a single wideband antenna, operating from 200 GHz to 600 GHz, is connected to a pn-junction diode. Including the antenna-detector impedance mismatch, the detector shows an average NEP...

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...

Wide Field of View Lens-Based Focusing System for Security Imagers at THz frequencies

The aim of the European project CONSORTIS is the development of a walk-by imaging system for concealed object detections working at submillimetre-wave frequencies. This imager will allow to image a full body at two frequency bands with high sensitivity (&lt;;1K) and large frame rate (10Hz). The imager relies on a large focal plane array with...

Operation of a titanium nitride superconducting microresonator detector in the nonlinear regime

If driven sufficiently strongly, superconducting microresonators exhibit nonlinear behavior including response bifurcation. This behavior can arise from a variety of physical mechanisms including heating effects, grain boundaries or weak links, vortex penetration, or through the intrinsic nonlinearity of the kinetic inductance. Although...