A 350-GHz high-resolution high-sensitivity passive video imaging system

We are developing a 350 GHz cryogenic passive video imaging system. This demonstration system uses 800 photon-noise-limited superconducting transition edge sensor bolometers. It will image a 1 m x 1 m area at a standoff distance of 16 m to a resolution of approximately 1 cm at video frame rates (20 frames per second). High spatial resolution is achieved by the use of an f/2.0 Cassegrain optical system with 1.3 m primary mirror. Preliminary testing of prototype detectors indicates that we can achieve a noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 70 mK for the fully sampled 1 m × 1 m image at 20 frames per second.

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