INFRARED DETECTION BY BKB THIN FILMS

THE DISCOVERY OF A MULTITUDE OF SUPERCONDUCTING OXIDE MATERIALS HAS OPENED UP NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR DEVELOPING INFRARED DETECTORS. THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF EFFORT EXPENDED ON STUDYING THE DETECTION PROPERTIES OF YBA2CU3O7 (YBCO)FILMS. THE BEST RESULTS ON YBCO HAVE COME FROM STUDIES ON BALOMETERS. HOWEVER, SOME OF THE MOST INTRIGUING RESULTS OBTAINED FROM SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILM DETECTORS HAVE COME FROM STUDIES OF GRANULAR MATERIALS SUCH AS NBN/BN COMPOSITES AND BAPB1-XBIX03 (BPB) FILMS WHICH CAN LEAD TO NON-BOLOMETRIC DETECTORS. THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF THE 30 K PEROVSKITE SUPERCONDUCTOR BA1-XKXBIO3 (BKB) OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLOIT THE ADVANTAGES OF GRANULAR GRANULAR SUPERCONDUCTING DETECTORS AN UNPRECEDENTED HIGH TEMPERATURES. OBSERVATIONS OF NON-BOLOMETRIC (QUANTUM) DETECTION BY GRANULAR SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS OPENS UP THE POSSIBILITY OF DETECTORS THAT ARE BOTH FAST AND SENSITIVE. THIS PROGRAM SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE THE OPTICAL DETECTION PROPERTIES OF BKB FILMS AND IDENTIFY THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE FILMS AND THEIR OPTICAL PERFORMANCE.