Patent ID: 8242446

Claim:
A radiation detector comprising: an energy absorber, for absorbing incident radiation (RAD) to be detected and undergoing a temperature increase as a consequence of said absorption; and optical readout means, for detecting said temperature increase of the energy absorber; said optical readout means comprises input coupling means for coupling a light beam to said energy absorber by exciting surface plasmons resonance, a surface plasmons resonance condition being dependent on the energy absorber temperature; said energy absorber comprising a multi-layer structure including a conducting layer for supporting surface plasmon and a dielectric layer or a gap whose thickness or width changes upon temperature variation of at least a part of the energy absorber; said energy absorber further comprising a multi-material cantilever adapted for flexing upon a temperature variation; and said dielectric layer or gap separating the multi-material cantilever of the energy absorber from said input coupling means; whereby a flexion of said cantilever induces a change of width of the gap; and wherein the multi-material cantilever is made only of dielectric material.