Inventors:
James C. Culbertson - Alexandria VA
Harvey S. Newman - Alexandria VA
Jeffrey M. Pond - Alexandria VA
Stuart A. Wolf - Bowie MD
Ulrich Strom - Hyattsville MD
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy - Washington DC
International Classification:
H01L 3900
Abstract:
Highly sensitive infrared detectors can be made from superconducting micrrip transmission lines, having a single ground plane, a dielectric substrate on the ground plane, and a thin film path of superconducting oxide on the substrate. These microstrip transmission lines can be fabricated into resonant or non-resonant structures. The detectors operate by detecting changes in a microwave signal transmitted through the microstrip, measures in the amplitude, frequency or time domains. An embodiment of this invention is an asymmetric ring interferometer, with or without a metal segment in the shorter leg of the interferometer. Another embodiment of this invention is a meander path transmission line, which, in certain configurations, may be used as a single element array with very high resolution in the direction parallel to the meander lines.