Effect of total dose proton irradiation on the performance of Kinetic Inductance Detectors for far-Infrared space observatory

TL;DR

This study assesses the impact of high-energy proton irradiation on Kinetic Inductance Detectors, finding minimal effects on key parameters but increased noise levels post-irradiation.

Contribution

It provides the first evaluation of proton radiation effects on KID performance for space applications, simulating a 10-year mission dose.

Findings

No significant change in quasi-particle lifetime or dark responsivity after irradiation.

Observed increase in noise and NEP, likely due to data analysis limitations.

Irradiation did not degrade the fundamental detector parameters significantly.

Abstract

Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) are a promising technology for future space missions, where exposure to high-energy particles may affect detector performance. In this work, we irradiated two types of KID arrays, absorber coupled and antenna coupled, with high-energy protons at 120 mK. We used a total dose equivalent to approximately 10 years of operation at the L2 Lagrange point. A comparison between pre-irradiation and post-irradiation measurements (24 hours after a 5.7 krad total dose) was done, while keeping the detectors at 120 mK. We find that there is no significant change in the quasi-particle lifetime {\tau}_qp and the dark responsivity d{\theta}/dPdark, but we do observe an increase in the noise and NEP that is tentatively attributed to limitations in the post radiation data analysis.