Measurement of quasiparticle transport in aluminum films using tungsten transition-edge sensors

We report on experimental studies of phonon sensors which utilize quasiparticle diffusion in thin aluminum films connected to tungsten transition-edge-sensors (TESs) operated at 35 mK. We show that basic TES physics and a simple physical model of the overlap region between the W and Al films in our...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2014-10, Vol.105 (16)
Main Authors: Yen, J. J., Shank, B., Cabrera, B., Moffatt, R., Redl, P., Young, B. A., Tortorici, E. C., Brink, P. L., Cherry, M., Tomada, A., Kreikebaum, J. M., Department of Physics, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California 95053
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ALUMINIUM
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
DIFFUSION
DIFFUSION EQUATIONS
NEUTRAL-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
PULSE SHAPERS
SENSORS
THIN FILMS
TUNGSTEN
X RADIATION
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report on experimental studies of phonon sensors which utilize quasiparticle diffusion in thin aluminum films connected to tungsten transition-edge-sensors (TESs) operated at 35 mK. We show that basic TES physics and a simple physical model of the overlap region between the W and Al films in our devices enables us to accurately reproduce the experimentally observed pulse shapes from x-rays absorbed in the Al films. We further estimate quasiparticle loss in Al films using a simple diffusion equation approach. These studies allow the design of phonon sensors with improved performance.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4899130