872 New Generation Bolometric Detector for Measurement of Solar Spectral Irradiance

Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Dave Harber, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO; and Z. Castleman, G. Drake, G. Kopp, J. Rutkowski, H. Passe, M. Smith, P. Smith, J. Sprunck, E. Richard, N. Tomlin, M. Stephens, M. White, and J. Lehman

Handout (18.4 MB)

We have developed a novel room temperature vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) bolometer for the Compact Spectral Irradiance Monitor (CSIM), a miniaturized space­based solar spectral radiometer. This 6U CubeSat instrument will measure the solar spectral irradiance from 200­-2400 nm; a continuous spectral range that covers 96% of the total solar output. The on-orbit radiometric stability of the CSIM instrument must meet or exceed 100 ppm/year in order to generate a data record useful for climate modeling over a solar cycle. For CSIM, both radiometric accuracy and long­term stability are provided by this absolute electrical substitution bolometer. Due to its basic thermal operation the bolometer has a very flat spectral response and is robust to degradation on orbit. The bolometer is based on a micro-machined silicon substrate with a silicon nitride thermal link utilizing highly developed processing techniques. The measured noise level for the bolometer is 260 pW for a 40 second measurement, demonstrating over a factor of four improvement compared to the presently used space-based designs. More generally, the development of these bolometers integrated into ambient-temperature radiometers offer unique opportunities to acquire more frequent Earth radiation balance measurements by providing miniature, low-power absolute detectors for SmallSat implementation.
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