Microwave detection of a superconducting infrared sensor
First Claim
1. A sensor of infrared radiation comprising a microstrip transmission line, a microwave frequency source coupled to a first point on the transmission line, and a microwave detector coupled to a second point on the microstrip transmission line different from the first point, where the microstrip transmission line comprises a single flat metal or superconducting ground plane, a flat dielectric substrate on the ground plane, and a superconducting thin film path on the substrate, where the microstrip is an interferometer.
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Abstract
Highly sensitive infrared detectors can be made from superconducting micrrip transmission lines, having a single ground plane, a dielectric substrate on the ground plane, and a thin film path of superconducting oxide on the substrate. These microstrip transmission lines can be fabricated into resonant or non-resonant structures. The detectors operate by detecting changes in a microwave signal transmitted through the microstrip, measures in the amplitude, frequency or time domains. An embodiment of this invention is an asymmetric ring interferometer, with or without a metal segment in the shorter leg of the interferometer. Another embodiment of this invention is a meander path transmission line, which, in certain configurations, may be used as a single element array with very high resolution in the direction parallel to the meander lines.
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Citations
13 Claims
- 1. A sensor of infrared radiation comprising a microstrip transmission line, a microwave frequency source coupled to a first point on the transmission line, and a microwave detector coupled to a second point on the microstrip transmission line different from the first point, where the microstrip transmission line comprises a single flat metal or superconducting ground plane, a flat dielectric substrate on the ground plane, and a superconducting thin film path on the substrate, where the microstrip is an interferometer.
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