A Measurement of Bolometer Mount Efficiency at Millimeter Wavelengths (Correspondence)

In recent studies of a pulsed source of millimeter and submillirneter waves the average power of the signals generated was below the sensitivity of common power meters that utilize barrettes or thermistors. A device was required that measured peak power or energy per pulse. A method for measurement of peak power employing bolometers had been developed for power levels of a few milliwatts in the centimeter wavelength range (up to K band). In this method the nearly linear resistance rise of a barretter upon application of a RF rectangular pulse is differentiated. The diffierentiation produces a step function, and a peak reading instrument measures its amplitude.