Performance of SIS photon detectors for superconductive imaging submillimeter-wave camera (SISCAM)

High sensitivity submillimeter-wave focal plane array using SIS photon detector is being developed, which we call SISCAM, the superconductive imaging submillimeter-wave camera. In the course of the detector evaluations, we have measured performance of the SIS photon detectors under various operating conditions. Advantages of the SIS photon detectors are explained by the nature of antenna coupled quantum detectors. Their input coupling can be designed to have band-pass characteristics owing to the distributed junction design. This reduces requirements for infrared blocking filters and enhances optical efficiency. The detector performance is evaluated under background loading and they show background limited performance. Measurement at 4 K shows the SIS photon detector operates under shot noise limit of thermal leakage current and its NEP is 1x10-14 W/Hz0.5, that is better than bolometers at 4.2 K, whereas the same detector has NEP of 10-16 W/Hz0.5 at 0.3 K. Dynamic range of SIS photon detectors is estimated to be higher than 109, which surpass the dynamic range achievable with TES bolometers. Nine-element array of SIS photon detector, SISCAM-9, is developed and their performance is evaluated in a submillimeter-wave telescope. With a development of integrated electronics with GaAs-JFET charge integrating readout circuit, the SIS photon detector will be an ideal imaging array in submillimeter-wave region. Due to its large dynamic range and shot noise limited performance under various operating condition, SIS photon detectors can be used for various astronomical instrumentations as well as for other fields of terahertz technologies.

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