Hot-electron direct detectors: feasibility of NEP - Figure 1

Figure 1

Text Box: Fig. 1.
Schematic diagram of the HEDD design. The low-Tc microbridge is surrounded by
superconducting “Andreev mirrors” which prevent leakage of the thermal energy
into the contacts. The energy gap in the microbridge is suppressed while in the
contacts it is fully open. The size of superconducting contacts is small to avoid
undesirable rf loss at high frequencies.