Metrology of infrared superconducting bolometers with a backshort.

We present the detailed metrology of a superconducting Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) absorber-coupled bolometer array bonded to a variable-delay backshort to form an integral field unit. The backshort is shaped as a wedge to continuously vary the electrical phase delay of the bolometer absorber reflective termination across the array. This resonant absorber termination structure is used to define a spectral response over a 4:1 bandwidth in the far-infrared, from ∼30 to 120 µm. The metrology of the backshort-bolometer array hybrid was achieved with a laser confocal microscope and a compact cryogenic system that provides a well-defined thermal (radiative and conductive) environment for the hybrid when cooled to ∼10 K. The results show the backshort free-space delays do not change with cooling. The estimated backshort slope is 1.58 milli-radians and within 0.3% of the targeted value. The sources of error in the free-space delay of the hybrid and optical cryogenic metrology implementations are discussed in detail. We also present measurements of the bolometer's single-crystal silicon membrane topography. The membranes deform and deflect out-of-plane under both warm and cold conditions. Intriguingly, the optically active area of the membranes tends to flatten when cold and repeatably achieve the same mechanical state over many thermal cycles; hence, no evidence for thermally-induced mechanical instability is observed. Most of the cold deformation is sourced from thermally-induced stress in the metallic layers comprising the TES element of the bolometer pixels. These results provide important considerations for the design of ultra-low-noise TES bolometers.

Is coronary artery bypass in the community hospital justifiable?

Coronary artery bypass can be performed at the community hospital level with results comparable to those in major university centers. Four hundred and ninety-seven patients were operated on between 1970 and 1976 with an overall early mortality of 4.4% (2.6% for coronary artery bypass only) and improvement in the quality of life in 88% of patients.

Optical performance of frequency-selective bolometers.

Frequency-selective bolometers (FSBs) are a new type of detector for millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths that are transparent to all but a narrow range of frequencies as set by characteristics of the absorber itself. Therefore stacks of FSBs tuned to different frequencies provide a low-loss compact method for utilizing a large fraction of the light collected by a telescope. Tests of prototype FSBs indicate that the absorption spectra are well predicted by models, that peak absolute absorption efficiencies of the order of 50% are attainable, and that their out-of-band transmission is high.