Hot Electron Bolometer Development for a Submillimeter Heterodyne Array Camera

TL;DR

This paper reports on the development and optimization of Nb diffusion-cooled Hot Electron Bolometers for a large-format submillimeter heterodyne array camera, including fabrication techniques and device characterization.

Contribution

Introduces a new fabrication process for Nb HEBs and demonstrates their performance at 20 GHz for submillimeter imaging.

Findings

Successful fabrication of Nb HEBs with improved performance

Effective heterodyne mixing at 20 GHz achieved

Optimizations enhance device reliability and sensitivity

Abstract

We are developing Nb diffusion-cooled Hot Electron Bolometers (HEBs) for a large-format array submillimeter camera. We have fabricated Nb HEBs using a new angle deposition process. We have characterized these devices using heterodyne mixing at 20 GHz. We also report on optimizations in the fabrication process that improve device performance.