Molecule/high-tc superconductor structures as optical sensors

By combining patterned high-temperature superconductor thin films with overlayers of molecular materials, a new generation of hybrid optical sensors is obtained. Here, the ability of molecular dye layers to influence the light sensing properties of a high-Tc superconducting bolometer is described. These dye-coated devices are shown to display selective optical responses which are dependent on the properties of the molecular layer. Two different types of molecular absorbing layers prepared from molecular dyes and conductive polymers are examined in this paper Furthermore, the prospects for producing wavelength tunable detectors from hybrid conducting polymer/superconductor structures are addressed.