Fabrication of prototype imaging arrays for SCUBA-2

Prototype imaging subarrays for SCUBA-2 (the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array) have been fabricated and tested. The pixel count (1280) of these wafer-scale imagers is significantly larger than any other low-temperature detectors produced to date, and represents a major step forward for the low-temperature detector community. These transition-edge-sensor (TES) based imagers utilize several innovations including in-focal-plane Superconducting quantum intereference device (SQUID) multiplexers, micromachined Si block absorbers, and superconducting wafer hybridization. In this paper, we review the fabrication processes developed for these imagers and present recent optical data from a prototype imaging subarray. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.