Progress of RFTES detector technology

The paper examines the current state of research and development of a new ultra-sensitive detection technology based on high-frequency heating of a superconducting microbridge by a combination of resonator currents at frequencies of about 1.5 GHz and a signal from a planar antenna in the frequency range 550–750 GHz at temperatures of 50–400 mK, called RFTES technology. The new technology aims to development of terahertz-range direct detectors of attowatt sensitivity and has already demonstrated performance close to theoretically possible under experimental conditions. A comparison with known superconducting detectors is made, competitive advantages and prospects for use in integrated circuits, including multi-element imaging arrays, are discussed, as well as the recently discovered strong kinetic effect in hafnium film at temperatures of about 100 mK. The prospects for the development of RFTES technology towards complex devices such as differential detectors and active integrated detectors with quantum sensitivity, as well as sources of thermodynamic noise for calibrating terahertz detectors with picowatt heat production are analyzed.