https://www.army.mil/article/239559
“The microwave bolometer developed under this project is so sensitive that it can detect a single microwave photon — the smallest unit of energy in nature.”
🔬 A bolometer is a device that measures electromagnetic radiation by detecting the tiny temperature rise caused when photons are absorbed.
💡 In this study, researchers achieved ultra-high sensitivity by integrating graphene into the microwave antenna.
⚡ The electrons in graphene absorb microwave photons, heat up, and this temperature change is read out by a nearby Josephson junction — a quantum thermometer whose electrical properties shift with temperature.