Ultrastable microwave kinetic inductance detector hits new single-pixel benchmark
Ultrastable microwave kinetic inductance detector hits new single-pixel benchmark lead image
As today’s telescopes become larger, demand for scalable background-limited sensor arrays has increased. Microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) have provided a relatively cost-effective way to multiplex pixels, proving to be a promising technology for such a task. MKIDs, however, have traditionally lacked the single-pixel performance, in particular the low frequency stability found in other types of sensors. New work looks to overcome this drawback.
Vissers et al. demonstrate a new, ultrastable MKID whose single pixel performance nearly matches other sensors that sacrifice MKID’s scalability advantage. By combining titanium nitride capacitors with aluminum inductors into a lumped-element superconducting resonator, the group’s feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive device is photon-noise limited.
The intrinsic noise of the detector is dominated by the observed noise of the sky, down to 50 milliHertz at a wavelength of 2 mm. The device is one of the first MKIDs to achieve such a sensitivity, marking a new stage in maturity of the technology.
“We’ve demonstrated that the single pixel limit of the MKID in this device is an order of magnitude better than what had been demonstrated previously,” said author Michael Vissers. “That kind of improvement allows it to be an attractive solution for some of the new, larger instruments people are exploring.”
Vissers added that the sensor’s suppression of unexpected noise sources positions it well for potential use in other superconducting high-Q resonators and quantum computing.
He hopes further work will continue to elevate the profile of MKIDs. The group looks to demonstrate that the sensor can be scaled up to exceed the 5000-pixel arrays that are currently being deployed. They hope to also extend the technology to detecting multiple wavebands within each pixel.
Source: “Ultrastable millimeter-wave kinetic inductance detectors,” by M. R. Vissers, J. E. Austermann, M. Malnou, C. M. Mckenney, B. Dober, J. Hubmayr, G. C. Hilton, J. N. Ullom, and J. Gao, Applied Physics Letters (2019). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5138122 .
