Superconducting Transition-Edge-Microcalorimeter X-ray Spectrometer with 2 eV Energy Resolution at 1.5 keV

Published

December 31, 2000

Author(s)

David A. Wollman, Sae Woo Nam, Dale Newbury, Gene C. Hilton, Kent D. Irwin, Norman F. Bergren, Steven Deiker, David A. Rudman, John M. Martinis

Abstract

We describe the operation and performance of a prototype microcalorimeter ?energy-dispersive? (nondispersive) x-ray spectrometer (mcal EDS) developed at NIST for use in x-ray microanalysis and x-ray astronomy. The low-energy microcalorimeter detector, consisting of an Al-Ag bilayer superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) in thermal contact with a Bi x-ray absorber, is designed for operation in the energy range from 0 keV to 2 keV and is fabricated using a shadow-mask lithographic process. The TES microcalorimeter is cooled by a compact adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator and is mounted on a scanning electron microscope. This device achieves a best energy resolution of 2.0 eV 1 0.1 eV at 1.5 keV, as determined from the analysis of digitized x-ray spectra of a complex glass containing many elements.

Citation

Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment

Volume

444

Issue

2000

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

energy-dispersive spectrometer, microcalorimeter EDS, non-dispersive detector, transition-edge sensor, X-ray detector, X-ray microanalysis, cryogenic device, energy resolution, microcalorimeter

Citation

Wollman, D. , Nam, S. , Newbury, D. , Hilton, G. , Irwin, K. , Bergren, N. , Deiker, S. , Rudman, D. and Martinis, J. (2000), Superconducting Transition-Edge-Microcalorimeter X-ray Spectrometer with 2 eV Energy Resolution at 1.5 keV, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=2624 (Accessed October 27, 2025)