Microfabricated transition-edge X-ray detectors

Author

Hilton, G.C. ; Martinis, John M. ; Irwin, K.D. ; Bergren, N.E. ; Wollman, D.A. ; Huber, M.E. ; Deiker, S. ; Nam, S.W.

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

11

Issue

1

fYear

2001

fDate

3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

739

Lastpage

742

Abstract

We are developing high performance X-ray detectors based on superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) for application in materials analysis and astronomy. Using our recently developed fully lithographic TES fabrication process, we have made devices with an energy resolution of 4.5±0.1 eV for 5.9 keV X-rays, the best reported energy resolution for any energy dispersive detectors in this energy range. These detectors utilize micromachined thermal isolation structures and transition-edge sensors fabricated from Mo/Cu bilayers with normal-metal boundary conditions. We have found the normal-metal boundary conditions to be critical to stable and reproducible low noise operation. In this paper we present details of fabrication and performance of these devices

Keywords

X-ray detection; particle calorimetry; superconducting particle detectors; 5.9 keV; Mo/Cu bilayers; energy dispersive detectors; energy resolution; high performance X-ray detectors; microfabricated transition-edge X-ray detectors; micromachined thermal isolation structures; normal-metal boundary conditions; reproducible low noise operation; superconducting transition-edge sensors; transition-edge sensors; Astronomy; Boundary conditions; Dispersion; Energy resolution; Fabrication; Performance analysis; Superconducting materials; Thermal sensors; X-ray detection; X-ray detectors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/77.919451

Filename

919451