Electrical and optical measurements on the first SCUBA-2 prototype 1280 pixel submillimeter superconducting bolometer array.
SCUBA-2 is a submillimeter camera being built for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. Bringing CCD style imaging to the submillimeter for the first time, with over 10000 pixels, it will provide a revolutionary improvement in sensitivity and mapping speed. We present results of the first tests on a prototype 1280 pixel SCUBA-2 subarray; the full instrument will be made up of eight such subarrays. The array is made up of transition edge sensor (TES) detectors, with Mo/Cu bilayers as the sensing element. To keep the number of wires reasonable, a multiplexed readout is used. Unlike previous TES arrays, an in-focal plane multiplexer configuration is used, in which the multiplexing elements are located beneath each pixel. To achieve the required performance, the detectors are operated at a temperature of approximately 120 mK. We describe the results of a basic electrical and optical characterization of the array, demonstrating that it is fully operational. Noise measurements were made on several pixels and gave a noise equivalent power below 2.5 x 10(-17) W HZ(-0.5), within the requirements for SCUBA-2. The construction of the testbed used to carry out these measurements is also described.
Woodcraft
Adam L
AL
Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queen's Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom.
Ade
Peter A R
PA
Bintley
Dan
D
House
Julian S
JS
Hunt
Cynthia L
CL
Sudiwala
Rashmi V
RV
Doriese
William B
WB
Duncan
William D
WD
Hilton
Gene C
GC
Irwin
Kent D
KD
Reintsema
Carl D
CD
Ullom
Joel N
JN
Audley
Michael D
MD
Ellis
Maureen A
MA
Holland
Wayne S
WS
MacIntosh
Mike
M
Dunare
Camelia C
CC
Parkes
William
W
Walton
Anthony J
AJ
Kycia
Jan B
JB
Halpern
Mark
M
Schulte
Eric
E