Low noise TES array for the short wavelength band of the SAFARI instrument on SPICA

SPICA is an infra-red (IR) telescope with a cryogenically cooled mirror (∼5K) with three instruments on board, one of which is SAFARI that is an imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) with three bands covering the wavelength of 34-210 μm. We develop transition edge sensors (TES) array for short wavelength band (34-60 um) of SAFARI. These are based on superconducting Ti/Au bilayer as TES bolometers with a Tc of about 105 mK and thin Ta film as IR absorbers on suspended silicon nitride (SiN) membranes. These membranes are supported by long and narrow SiN legs that act as weak thermal links between the TES and the bath. Previously an electrical noise equivalent power (NEP) of 4×10^-19 W/√Hz was achieved for a single pixel of such detectors. As an intermediate step toward a full-size SAFARI array (43×43), we fabricated several 8×9 detector arrays. Here we describe the design and the outcome of the dark and optical tests of several of these devices. We achieved high yield (>93%) and high uniformity in terms of critical temperature (<5%) and normal resistance (7%) across the arrays. The measured dark NEPs are as low as 5×10^-1 W/VHz with a response time of about 1.4 ms at preferred operating bias point.