Overview

This thesis presents measurements on the of performance of superconducting tunnel junctions (STJ) as direct detectors for submillimeter radiation. Over the past several decades, STJ's have been successfully implemented as energy-resolving detectors of X-ray and optical photons. This work extends their application to ultra-sensitive direct detection of photons near 100 GHz. The focus of this research is to integrate the detector with a readout that is sensitive, fast, and able to be scaled for use in large format arrays. We demonstrate the performance of a radio frequency single electron transistor (RF-SET) configured as a transimpedance current amplifier as one such readout. Unlike traditional semiconductor amplifiers, the RF-SET is compatible with cryogenic operation and naturally lends itself to frequency domain multiplexing. This research progressed to the invention of RF-STJ, whereby the same RF reflectometry as used in the RF-SET is applied directly to the detector junction. This results in a greatly simplified design that preserves many of the advantages of the RF-SET while achieving comparable sensitivity. These experiments culminate in calibration of the detector with an on-chip, mesoscopic noise source. Millimeter wave Johnson noise from a gold microbridge illuminates the detector in situ. This allows for direct measurement of the optical properties of the detector and its RF readout, including the response time, responsivity and sensitivity.

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