Concept for Utilizing Full Areas of STJ Photodetector Arrays

A method of designing improved monolithic planar arrays of superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) for use as photodetectors has been conceived. These arrays would be suitable for detecting images at low light levels. They are for operation in the individual-photon- counting regime; they are used not only to detect the arrival of individual photons but also to measure the individual photon energies. As such, the STJ arrays would be compact sensors that would perform the functions now performed by bulkier equipment in the form of photomultipliers and spectrometers. Eventually, it should be possible to use STJ arrays for such demanding applications as simultaneous imaging and spectroscopy of faint astronomical objects.