Development of Superconducting Detectors and Filtering Structures for the Next Generation of Sub-mm Astronomical Instruments

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The Cardiff Astronomy Instrumentation Group (AIG) is one of the world leaders in Kinetic Inductance Detector (KID) development. These superconducting detectors are the most promising technology for the next generation of millimeter - THz wave detectors. Along with ultra-high sensitivity, theses detectors can be multiplexed into large format arrays allowing as many as 10'000 detectors to be read out on a single channel making them suitable for a range of ground and space-based applications. Along with our collaborators, Cardiff has proven this technology for photometric applications on ground-based telescopes and industrial THz imaging systems.The next natural progression of KID technology is to incorporate the detector architecture into filtering structures allowing the realization of multi-chroic pixels and on-chip spectroscopy. This development would drastically simplify the components required to create spectral imaging systems required for the next generation of ground and space-based observatories.Working with our collaborators and as part of our on-going funded research in detector development, the objectives of this project will be to study the device physics of both the KID and planar filtering structures in order to build and test devices suitable for astronomical observation in the mm and submm wavebands. Students can expect to learn a variety of skills including: Cryogenics, superconductivity theory and application, detector design and testing, microwave design using industry standard 2D and 3D modelling software and device fabrication.