Mazin/aSi Thin film dielectric microstrip kinetic inductance detectors Benjamin A. Mazin, ∗ Daniel Sank, Sean McHugh, Erik A. Lucero, and Andrew Merrill Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530 Jiansong Gao and David Pappas National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305-3328 David Moore and Jonas Zmuidzinas Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (Dated: June 1, 2018) Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, are a type of low temperature detector that exhibit intrinsic frequency domain multiplexing at microwave frequencies. We present the first theory and measurements on a MKID based on a microstrip transmission line resonator. A complete characterization of the dielectric loss and noise properties of these resonators is performed, and agrees well with the derived theory. A competitive noise equivalent power of 5 × 10 − 17 W Hz − 1 / 2 at 1 Hz has been demonstrated. The resonators exhibit the highest quality factors known in a microstrip resonator with a deposited thin film dielectric. PACS numbers: 77.55.+f,85.25.-j,85.25.Am, 85.25.Oj, 85.25.Pb, 84.40.Az arXiv:1002.0301v1 [cond-mat.supr-con] 1 Feb 2010 Abstract $^{∗}$Electronic address: bmazin@physics.ucsb.edu; URL: http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/ ~ bmazin/ 1