Project Title:

High Speed YBa2Cu307 Superconducting Bolometers on

Excel Superconductor, Inc.
140-29, Keyland Ct.
Bohemia, NY-11716

93-1-08     14   8278A

High Speed YBa2Cu307 Superconducting Bolometers on
Polycrystalline Diamond

Abstract:

Excel Superconductor, in cooperation with Dr. H. S. Kwok at SUNY
Buffalo, propose an innovative approach to fabricate sensitive,
broad--band high--speed bolometric IR detectors on diamond. The
low heat capacity of a diamond substrate makes it possible to
build sensitive bolometers with a fast response time. No one has
yet deposited high quality YBa2Cu307 (YBCO) thin films on diamond
because of lattice mismatch, chemical contamination, and
differences in thermal contraction. Our approach is to combine
two established technologies--diamond on silicon, and YBCO on
silicon with a YSZ buffer layer - to create
diamond-silicon--YSZ-YBCO multilayers, in which the silicon and
YSZ serve as a composite buffer layer. This innovation is a
promising approach to developing a bolometer which detects
infrared radiation at wavelengths 1--100 microns more sensitively
than any other detector operating at or above 77K.

The bolometer we develop in Phase II will have direct commercial
applicability as an infrared detector for laboratory infrared
spectroscopy instruments. Such instruments now contain either
sensitive and expensive helium-cooled detectors or relatively
insensitive and inexpensive room--temperature detectors. The HTS
bolometer will make it possible to develop a commercial
instrument which is intermediate in sensitivity and price.

High Tc Films, Diamond, Bolometer,