206 the materials for the various layers in the absorber section 200 are selected for the desired strength absorption and other properties fig4 depicts an absorber section 208 formed in the shape of an i beam for additional strength fig5 depicts a u201c u shaped u201d wire absorber 210 the wire absorber 210 in some embodiments is constructed in the manner described in u s patent application ser no 13 415 479 filed mar 8 2012 the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference the u shape provides additional strength fig6 depicts a similar absorber section 212 that includes an outer u shaped section 214 and an inner u shaped section 216 formed with a different material returning to fig1 and 2 the total resistance for the sensor assembly 100 measured across the support posts 122 124 and the absorber 108 is defined by the following equation where n is the number of linear leg portions 132 and r a is the resistance of one of the linear leg portions which together form the absorber 108 the resistance of the support posts 122 124 is de minimis because of the relatively large bulk of material and the short length compared to the support leg portions upon impingement of the absorber 108 with electromagnetic radiation the average temperature of the absorber 108 increases by u03b4t the electrical resistance of the sensor upon incident radiation changes by an amount u03b4r given by in one embodiment the width of the linear leg portion is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the.