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PUBLICATIONS

Characterization of Transition Edge Sensors for Decay Energy Spectrometry

Published

Author(s)

Max Carlson, Ryan P. Fitzgerald, Galen O'Neil, Dan Schmidt

Abstract

By using a superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) to measure the thermal energy of individual decay events with high energy resolution (goal of 1 keV at 5 MeV), Decay Energy Spectrometry (DES) provides a unique fingerprint to identify each radionuclide in a sample. The proposed measurement requires optimizing the thermal parameters of the detector for use with MeV-scale energy deposited by alpha decay of the sample radionuclides. The thermal performance of deep etched silicon TES chips is examined with the use of an onboard resistive heater. With known heater power and bath temperature, the thermal conductance, heat capacity, and frame temperature are calculated and compared to theory.
Citation
Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Volume
216
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-024-03135-9
Local Download

Keywords

Transition Edge Sensor • Decay Energy Spectrometry • Cryogenic Sensors
Ionizing radiation metrology

Citation

Carlson, M. , Fitzgerald, R. , O'Neil, G. and Schmidt, D. (2024), Characterization of Transition Edge Sensors for Decay Energy Spectrometry, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-024-03135-9, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956930 (Accessed October 9, 2025)

Issues

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Created May 16, 2024, Updated September 24, 2024
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