SILICON BOLOMETER ARRAYS FOR HELIUM - 3 DETECTOR SYSTEM

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF FABRICATING BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LARGE-SCALE CRYOGENIC INFRARED BOLOMETER ARRAYS. SILICON BOLOMETER ARRAYS OFFER THE POSSIBILITY OF SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE OVER OTHER IR DETECTORS FOR MANY BACKGROUND LEVELS IN THE WAVELENGTH RANGE 2.5 TO 500 MICROMETERS, BUT THEIR SUCCESSFUL OPERATION REQUIRES THAT EACH PIXEL BE SEPARATELY THERMALLY ISOLATED. TECHNIQUES FOR FABRICATING MODULAR LINEAR ARRAYS OF 1 X 8 DETECTORS WHICH CAN BE STACKED TO FORM 8 X 8 SIZES OR JOINED TO FORM LINEAR ARRAYS OF 1 X 64 OR LONGER WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE MULTIPLEXERS AND COLD AMPLIFIERS REQUIRED FOR THE ARRAY READOUT AS WELL AS WARM CONTROL ELECTRONICS WILL ALSO BE DESIGNED. FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED DESIGN WILL BE DEMONSTRATED USING AN 8-ELEMENT BOLOMETER ARRAY FABRICATED FOR THIS STUDY.