Calibrating a novel type of bolometer arrays for the Herschel/PACS Photometer

The Herschel Space Observatory is a corner stone mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) scientific program. With its spatial resolution, sensitivity and spectral range (60 to 670 microns) Herschel will provide astronomers with unique opportunities to decipher many aspects of star formation mecanisms and galaxy evolution. Among the many research institutes involved in the development and exploitation of this challenging observatory, the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) designed a novel type of bolometric detectors to equip the photometer of the PACS instrument on-board the Herschel satellite. In this thesis, I present the basics of infrared astronomy and past and present developments in cryogenic bolometers, emphasising on new concepts introduced by CEA, that is the collective manufacturing of bolometer arrays, the high impedance thermometers, the cold multiplexing and the use of a resonant cavity to optimize absorption of electromagnetic radiation. I follow with an in-depth explanation of the working principles of CEA bolometer arrays, a prerequisite to grasp the strategy of the characterisation procedure that we developed. I then expose and analyse thoroughly the results that we obtained during the calibration campaign of the PACS photometer. Finally, I express detector performances in terms of "observational" performances that future PACS users can comprehend (time constant -> PSF smearing, NEP -> sensitivity, etc.).