Symmetric absorber-coupled far-infrared microwave kinetic inductance detector

US9383254B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration · US

Inventors

• Kongpop U-Yen · Arlington, US
• Edward J. Wollack · Glenn Dale, US
• Ari D. Brown · Ellicott City, US
• Thomas R. Stevenson · Gilroy, US
• Amil Ashok Patel · Palo Alto, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 25, 2014
• Grant date: Jul 5, 2016
• Expiry date: Sep 25, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01P7/082
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention relates to a symmetric absorber-coupled far-infrared microwave kinetic inductance detector including: a membrane having an absorber disposed thereon in a symmetric cross bar pattern; and a microstrip including a plurality of conductor microstrip lines disposed along all edges of the membrane, and separated from a ground plane by the membrane. The conducting microstrip lines are made from niobium, and the pattern is made from a superconducting material with a transition temperature below niobium, including one of aluminum, titanium nitride, or molybdenum nitride. The pattern is disposed on both a top and a bottom of the membrane, and creates a parallel-plate coupled transmission line on the membrane that acts as a half-wavelength resonator at readout frequencies. The parallel-plate coupled transmission line and the conductor microstrip lines form a stepped impedance resonator. The pattern provides identical power absorption for both horizontal and vertical polarization signals.