Development of an ultra-sensitive 210-micron array of KIDs for far-IR astronomy

TL;DR

This paper reports the development and testing of a 210-micron array of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) with ultra-sensitive noise performance, suitable for far-infrared space astronomy missions like PRIMA.

Contribution

It introduces a large array of KIDs with NEPs below 0.1 aW/√Hz, demonstrating their suitability for space-based far-infrared spectroscopy.

Findings

92% of detectors achieved NEP below 0.1 aW/√Hz

Detectors operate effectively at 10 Hz noise frequency

Array design meets the sensitivity requirements for PRIMA

Abstract

The Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) is a proposed space observatory which will use arrays of thousands of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) to perform low- and moderate-resolution spectroscopy throughout the far-infrared. The detectors must have noise equivalent powers (NEPs) at or below 0.1 aW/sqrt(Hz) to be subdominant to noise from sky backgrounds and thermal noise from PRIMA's cryogenically cooled primary mirror. Using a Radio Frequency System on a Chip for multitone readout, we measure the NEPs of detectors on a flight-like array designed to observe at a wavelength of 210 microns. We find that 92% of the KIDs measured have an NEP below 0.1 aW/sqrt(Hz) at a noise frequency of 10 Hz.