High-speed superconducting x-ray calorimeter using a transition edge sensor

• Published in: Superconductor science & technology 2002-01, Vol.15 (1), p.133-135
• Main Authors: Morooka, Toshimitsu, Tanaka, Keiichi, Nagata, Atsushi, Nakayama, Satoshi, Chinone, Kazuo, Futamoto, Kazuo, Fujimoto, Ryuichi, Mitsuda, Kazuhisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Calorimeters; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental methods and instrumentation for elementary-particle and nuclear physics; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Nuclear physics; Physics; Radiation detectors, dosimeters; X- and γ-ray instruments and techniques; X- and γ-ray sources, mirrors, gratings and detectors
• ISSN: 0953-2048; 1361-6668
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-2048/15/1/323

A high-speed superconducting x-ray calorimeter that uses a transition edge sensor (TES) was developed and tested for industrial applications such as microanalysis used in the semiconductor industry. The calorimeter consisted of a Au/Ti bilayer TES formed on a bridge-type SiN sub(x) membrane. A count rate of at least 10 000 cps was achieved by designing the calorimeter to have a decay time constant of less than 16 mu s. Preliminary experiments involved using the calorimeter (cooled by using a super(3)He refrigerator with a base temperature below 350 mK) to detect heat pulses and x-rays. To evaluate the response of the calorimeter, we measured the dependence of the decay time constant on the bias current, the pulse height of a heat pulse and the current noise. At the optimal bias point, the calorimeter showed a measured decay time constant of 15 mu s and a pulse height of 4 mu A when detecting x-rays.