Improved responsivity and sensitivity characteristics of the thin-film bismuth bolometer

A new design for the nanosecond response time room-temperature thin-film bismuth bolometer has resulted in much improved responsivity and sensitivity characteristics. A responsivity of
2.20 \times 10^{-2}
V/W and a sensitivity (NEP) of
5.0 \times 10^{-8}
W/Hz
^1/2
is reported. This is an improvement by a factor of 45 for the responsivity and a factor of 70 for the sensitivity over that previously reported for the bismuth-silver bolometer.