Temperature dependence of a superconducting tunnel junction x-ray detector

Lawrence J. Hiller; Simon E. Labov; Carl A. Mears; Andrew T. Barfknecht; Matthias A. Frank; Harrie Netel; Mark A. Lindeman

doi:10.1117/12.218381

1 September 1995 Temperature dependence of a superconducting tunnel junction x-ray detector

Lawrence J. Hiller, Simon E. Labov, Carl A. Mears, Andrew T. Barfknecht, Matthias A. Frank, Harrie Netel, Mark A. Lindeman

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2518, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VI; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218381
Event: SPIE's 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1995, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Superconducting tunnel junctions can be used as part of a high-resolution, energy-dispersive x- ray detector. The energy of the absorbed x ray is used to break superconducting electron pairs, producing on the order of 10⁶ excitations, called quasiparticles. The number of quasiparticles produced is proportional to the energy of the absorbed x ray. When a bias voltage is maintained across the barrier, these quasiparticles produce a net tunneling current. Either the peak tunneling current or the total tunneled charge may be measured to determine the energy of the absorbed x ray. The tunneling rate, and therefore the signal, is enhanced by the use of a quasiparticle trap near the tunnel barrier. The trapping efficiency is improved by decreasing the energy gap, though this reduces the maximum temperature at which the device may operate. In our niobium/aluminum configuration, we can very the energy gap in the trapping layer by varying its thickness. This paper examines the performance of two devices with 50 nm aluminum traps at temperatures ranging from 100 mK to 700 mK. We found that this device has a very good energy resolution of about 12 eV FWHM at 1 keV. This energy resolution is independent of temperature for much of this temperature range.

Citation Download Citation

Lawrence J. Hiller, Simon E. Labov, Carl A. Mears, Andrew T. Barfknecht, Matthias A. Frank, Harrie Netel, and Mark A. Lindeman "Temperature dependence of a superconducting tunnel junction x-ray detector", Proc. SPIE 2518, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, (1 September 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218381

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