Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) are a novel type of superconducting photon detectors firstly developed in 2003 and currently employed in several research fields. In particular, they got a rapid employment in astrophysics as high-sensitivity detectors for frequencies ranging from the far-infrared to X-rays. In the framework of the OLIMPO mission, an Italian programme in collaboration with Sapienza University in Rome, we developed four KID arrays simultaneously investigating four different bands of the microwave spectrum (centred at 150 GHz, 200 GHz, 350 GHz, and 480 GHz). They will be mounted on the OLIMPO telescope with the aim of measuring the anisotropy of cosmic microwave background radiation and cluster of galaxies and early galaxies with unparalleled precision. The OLIMPO’s KID arrays have been realized by electron beam lithography, thin film deposition and lift-off processes. They consist of 23 to 43 KIDs patterned in a 25-nm thick aluminium film on high resistivity Si wafers connected capacitively to a same coplanar feedline for their simultaneous reading. OLIMPO will be the first telescope equipped with KIDs and mounted on a long-term stratospheric balloon to fly. The mission will be launched by ASI in June 2018.
Contact person: Giorgio Pettinari, IFN - CNR Roma