Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 60: SC \& MLT: Cryodetectors
TT 60.2: Talk
Friday, March 18, 2011, 10:45–11:00, HSZ 301
Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors for astronomy and particle detection — •Christian Hoffmann1, Alessandro Monfardini1, Markus Roesch2, and Karl Schuster2 — 1Institut Néel, CNRS & Université J. Fourier, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble, France — 2IRAM, 300 rue de la piscine, 38406 St. Martin d'Hères, France
A new type of superconducting detector, the Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector, has recently drawn the attention of the low-temperature detector community. Easy fabrication, high sensitivity, low time constants and most notably the intrinsic capability to frequency multiplexing open new possibilities to applications that need very large array sizes and/or high speed read-out. We develop detector arrays for applications in the domain of astronomy, particle detection, phonon imaging and Helium-physics based on Lumped Element KIDs (LEKIDs). In a LEKID a resonant circuit composed of a discrete inductance and capacitance is coupled to a transmission line. The constant current density in the inductive part makes it a very efficient detector for em-radiation and particles. In this contribution we discuss detector principle, design and measured characteristics. Then we focus on the application for a millimeter wavelength camera, successfully tested at the IRAM 30-meter telescope at Pico Veleta, Spain in October 2010. The current instrument contains two arrays at 100 mK with more than 100 pixels on one read-out-line each for observations at 1.3 and 2 mm. The performances are the best achieved as of today for groundbased KIDs with sensitivities already comparable with existing (horns-coupled bolometers) instruments.