Performance of horn-coupled transition edge sensors for L- and S-band optical detection on the SAFARI instrument

We describe the geometry, architecture, dark-and optical performance of ultra-low-noise transition edge sensors as THz detectors for the SAFARI instrument. The TESs are fabricated from superconducting Mo/Au bilayers coupled to impedance-matched superconducting beta-phase Ta thin-film absorbers. The detectors have phonon-limited dark noise equivalent powers of order 0.5 - 1.0 aW/root Hz and saturation powers of order 20 - 40 fW. The low temperature test configuration incorporating micro-machined backshorts is also described, and construction and typical performance characteristics for the optical load are shown. We report preliminary measurements of the optical performance of these TESs for two SAFARI bands; L-band at 110 - 210 mu m and S-band 34 - 60 mu m.