Development Toward Tungsten Transition-Edge Sensors with Improved Energy Resolution in the Optical/NIR Regime

Published

April 22, 2026

Author(s)

Leaf Swordy, Adriana Lita, Benedikt Hampel, Daniel Swetz, Paul Szypryt, Douglas Bennett, Galen O'Neil, Michael Vissers, Joel Ullom, Richard Mirin, Martin Stevens

Abstract

We formulate an energy resolution model for optical transition-edge sensors which combines aspects of existing models with the goal of better defining and constraining energy resolution optimization. The combined model is found to be in better agreement with experimental data, while also allowing for theoretical exploration of phonon trapping for energy resolution enhancement. Additionally, we present preliminary data from our recent low critical temperature (Tc = 50 mK to 100 mK) tungsten Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) for the optical to Near Infra-Red (NIR) regime. Our tungsten TES detectors are shown to exhibit curious 'inverse' proximity effects compared to what is generally reported in the literature. A variety of wiring scheme test structures are analyzed under varying magnetic field shielding conditions in an effort to mitigate and characterize these spurious effects on the device Tc. We develop an electron beam lithography fabrication method in order to reduce the edge roughness of our tungsten TES devices, and demonstrate a more uniform Tc across various TES sizes when these e-beam lithography devices are measured within superconducting magnetic shielding.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Transition Edge Sensor, TES, Superconducting Detectors, Energy Resolution, Astronomy, Habitable Worlds

Citation

Swordy, L. , Lita, A. , Hampel, B. , Swetz, D. , Szypryt, P. , Bennett, D. , O'Neil, G. , Vissers, M. , Ullom, J. , Mirin, R. and Stevens, M. (2026), Development Toward Tungsten Transition-Edge Sensors with Improved Energy Resolution in the Optical/NIR Regime, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960605 (Accessed July 3, 2026)

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