Low Noise Nanometer Scale Room-Temperature YBa2Cu3O7-x Bolometers for THz Direct Detection

Journal article, 2014

We present a detailed investigation of the responsivity and the noise in room temperature THz direct detectors made of YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) thin film nano bolometers. The YBCO nano bolometers are integrated with planar spiral antennas covering a frequency range from 100 GHz to 2 THz. The detectors were characterized at 1.6 THz, 0.7 THz, 400 GHz and 100 GHz. The maximum electrical responsivity of 70 V/W and a minimum noise equivalent power (NEP) of 50 pW/Hz0.5 were measured, whereas the highest optical responsivity was 45 V/W. The 1/f noise in nano bolometers is independent on the device volume and can be found as (VN/V)2=6×10-11×1/f Hz-1 for a given modulation frequency f and a dc voltage V.