A 220 GHz superconducting titanium transition edge sensor array developed for cosmic microwave background experiments

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 220 GHz superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) array developed for ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Unlike conventional TES arrays adopting thermometers made of bilayer superconducting films, the TES array has thermometers made of simpler single-layer titanium (Ti) film deposited on a suspended silicon nitride (SiN x ) membrane. The thermal weak link is realized by releasing the TES’s thermal island including the Ti thermometer by dry etching with xenon difluoride (XeF2), giving a typical thermal conductance of 25 pW K−1. Its thermal-conductance mechanism is further studied by fitting the measured TES’s complex impedance with a three-block thermal model. The dark and optical noise equivalent power (NEP) of a superconducting TES are both measured. Despite existing lens reflection and dielectric loss in the superconducting microstrip line, its typical optical NEP reaches 100 aW Hz−0.5, which meets the sensitivity requirement for ground-based CMB experiments.