Patent ID: 7078695

Claim:
A bolometric imaging arrangement, comprising: an antenna-coupled microbolometer, comprising a substrate, an antenna supported by the substrate and a thermally sensitive element connected to the antenna and arranged to dissipate electric currents induced into the antenna, of which both the antenna and the thermally sensitive element comprise material that is susceptible to achieving a superconductive state below a certain critical temperature; wherein the thermally sensitive element is supported at a distance from the substrate leaving an empty gap between the thermally sensitive element and a surface of the substrate, and wherein the bolometric imaging arrangement comprises a vacuum container for enclosing the antenna-coupled microbolometer in a vacuum environment and a cryostat for keeping the antenna-coupled microbolometer under the critical temperature, and wherein the bolometric imaging arrangement comprises biasing means adapted to bias the thermally sensitive element into a state in which a part of its length, less than its total length, is in a normal ohmic conducting state.