Nanobolometer with Ultralow Noise Equivalent Power

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nanobolometer with significantly lower noise and faster response than previous devices, enabling high-precision, rapid detection suitable for advanced applications like astronomy and terahertz photon counting.

Contribution

The paper reports the development of a nanobolometer with an order of magnitude lower noise and faster response time, advancing the capabilities of bolometers for sensitive and rapid measurements.

Findings

Noise equivalent power of 20 zW/√Hz achieved

Time constant of 30 μs demonstrated

Calorimetric energy resolution of 0.3 zJ

Abstract

Since the introduction of bolometers more than a century ago, they have been applied in a broad spectrum of contexts ranging from security and the construction industry to particle physics and astronomy. However, emerging technologies and missions call for faster bolometers with lower noise. Here, we demonstrate a nanobolometer that exhibits roughly an order of magnitude lower noise equivalent power, $20\textrm{ zW}/\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$, than previously reported for any bolometer. Importantly, it is more than an order of magnitude faster than other low-noise bolometers, with a time constant of 30 $\mu$s at $60\textrm{ zW}/\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$. These results suggest a calorimetric energy resolution of $0.3\textrm{ zJ}=h\times 0.4$ THz with a time constant of 30 $\mu$s. Thus the introduced nanobolometer is a promising candidate for future applications requiring extreme precision and speed such as those in astronomy and terahertz photon counting.