Superconducting Materials and Devices
First Light on MDL-Made Antenna-Coupled Bolometers in BICEP 2 at the South Pole
MDL has continued pushing detector technology further by developing arrays with approximately 10X the quantity of pixels in either Herschel or Planck. While the SPIRE and Planck detectors were partially assembled by hand, the new detector arrays and antenna structures are entirely made by microlithographic processes. Each pixel in the detector array is capable of measuring both linear polarizations simultaneously using a phased array of slot antennas. The power coupled by the slot antenna is guided by low-loss superconducting striplines to so-called voltage-biased superconducting transition-edge sensor bolometers, or TES bolometers for short. The TES arrays are read out with a multiplexed SQUID array made by NIST.
In 2010, the first of these arrays was fielded on the BICEP2 telescope, led at Caltech by Jamie Bock and led at Harvard by Professor John Kovac. Anthony Turner and Tony Bonetti of MDL spent several months developing engineering-grade arrays and testing with the warm electronics and cryogenic telescope. After development, science-grade arrays were tested and packed for shipping. The field campaign started in late November 2009. Members of the team hand-carried the detectors to the South Pole via New Zealand and re-integrated them in the telescope. First light was measured in February 2010.
Current Projects
MDL Technologies on Herschel & Planck
MDL-developed technologies are performing well for ESA’s Herschel & Planck missions.
TES Bolometers
The use of TESs enables arrays with a much larger number of pixels than is practical with spider-web bolometers.
Superconducting Integrated Circuits for Quantum Computation
MDL is advancing adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) by teaming with D-Wave Systems Inc.
Quantum Capacitance Detector (QCD)
The QCD is a new concept for a photo-detector based on Cooper-pair breaking in superconductors using a single Cooper-pair box (SCB…
First Light at Palomar Using OLE MKID
The past year has seen dramatic improvements in the OLE MKIDs.
Array Technology for MUSIC Instrument
MUSIC (MUltiband Submillimeter Inductance Camera) is a camera based on kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs)…
Ultra-Low-Noise Detectors for BLISS
MDL makes important steps in 2011 towards the development of detectors for BLISS.
Next-Generation CERES Instrument
MDL is furthering development of the next-generation CERES-C to enhance climate forecasts.
Low-Frequency KIDs
In 2011, MDL began studying the operation of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) at lower readout frequencies.
Antenna-Coupled Bolometers
MDL pushes detector technology further by developing arrays with approximately 10X the quantity of pixels in either Herschel or Planck.
MKIDs
MDL is focused on two major MKID projects: energy-resolving, photon-counting optical detector arrays, and multiband submillimeter-wave imaging arrays…
SNSPDs
Single-photon near-infrared detectors are being developed for future space-to-ground communication links…
SIS Mixers
SIS Mixers may soon help address questions of climate change, ozone layer stability, and air quality…