Transition-edge sensor detectors for the Origins Space Telescope

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of transition-edge sensors to serve as ultra-sensitive, stable detectors for the Origins Space Telescope, aiming to meet its demanding infrared sensitivity and stability requirements.

Contribution

It evaluates the suitability of transition-edge sensors for the telescope's needs and proposes pathways to enhance their performance for space-based infrared detection.

Findings

Transition-edge sensors can potentially meet the sensitivity requirements.

They can be developed as both calorimeters and bolometers.

Pathways for improving sensor stability and sensitivity are outlined.

Abstract

The Origins Space Telescope is one of four flagship missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. With a 5.9 m cold (4.5 K) telescope deployed from space, Origins promises unprecedented sensitivity in the near-, mid-, and far-infrared, from 2.8 - 588 $\mu$m. This mandates the use of ultra-sensitive and stable detectors in all of the Origins instruments. At the present, no known detectors can meet Origins' stability requirements in the near- to mid-infrared, or its sensitivity requirements in the far-infrared. In this work, we discuss the applicability of transition-edge sensors, as both calorimeters and bolometers, to meet these requirements, and lay out a path toward improving the present state-of-the-art.