Frequency selective bolometers

We propose a concept for radiometry in the millimeter, the submillimeter, and the far-IR spectral regions, the frequency selective bolometer (FSB). This system uses a bolometer as a coupled element of a tuned quasi-optical interference filter in which the absorption, the transmission, and the reflection characteristics of the filter depend on the frequency in a controlled manner. Several FSB's can be cascaded within a straight light pipe to produce a high-efficiency, compact, multiband radiometer. A prototype design is presented together with its anticipated performance based on a one-dimensional transmission-line model. Instruments based on FSB technology should have several advantages over current multiband bolometric radiometers including smaller and more compact cryogenic optics; reduced demands on cryostat size and weight, high coupling efficiency, minimum constraints on the geometry in the focal plane. An FSB system can be configured as a multiband, close-packed focal-plane array, permitting efficient use of the throughput of a telescope. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America