&lt;title&gt;High-resolution x-ray detection at 1.2 K with niobium superconducting tunnel junctions&lt;/title&gt;

Verhoeve, P.; Rando, N.; Videler, P.; Peacock, A.; Dordrecht, A. van; Goldie, D. J.; Lumley, J.; Wallis, M.; Venn, R.

doi:10.1117/12.193185

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The two sets of double-peak structures and the substrate events were observed first by two groups in 1986 [9,10] using Sn-Sn STJs. In figure 9(a) we show a more recent example using thermally cyclable Nb-Nb STJs [78]. Although the doubling of the x-ray lines is a potential complication in x-ray spectroscopy, it provides detailed information on the operation of the detector devices and can act as a very valuable diagnostic tool.…”

Section: The Sis Tunnel Junctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superconducting particle detectors

Booth

Goldie

1996

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

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The interaction of a nuclear particle or x-ray with a superconductor leads to the breaking of Cooper pairs and the creation of excess quasi-particles and phonons. Under certain conditions this can produce a transition from the superconducting state to the normal state which can be detected in a number of ways. In other cases the quasi-particle excitations are detected with a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction. The phonon excitations can also be detected with an SIS junction or arrays of SIS junctions, or with superconducting transition edge bolometers. In addition, these superconducting sensors can detect the phonons produced by individual particle interactions in dielectric absorbers. At very low temperatures individual particles can also be detected with normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions due to the increase in electron temperature on the N side.Because of the smallness of the superconducting energy gap and the sharpness of the normal-to-superconducting transition, better energy resolution and sensitivity to smaller energy depositions can be achieved using superconductors as compared to conventional detectors. Moreover, a wide range of materials can be made into detectors for specific physics applications.The basic physics of the interactions of nuclear particles and x-rays in superconductors and in dielectrics is outlined, and the present status of superconducting particle detectors is reviewed.

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Section: The Sis Tunnel Junctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superconducting particle detectors

Booth

Goldie

1996

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

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“…However, the best resolution obtained so far with Nb junctions is only 50 eV for 6 keV x rays. 5 There are several reasons that are responsible for this resolution degradation. When quasiparticles get lost before tunneling, they do not contribute to the signal and the ratio of signal to noise gets smaller.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quasiparticle losses at the surface of superconducting tunnel junction detectors

Panteleit

Schroeder

Martin

et al. 1999

Journal of Applied Physics

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Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers)Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA):Panteleit, F., Schroeder, T., Martin, J., Huebener, R. P., Kiewiet, F. B., Berg, van den, M. L., & Korte, P. A. J. (1999). Quasiparticle losses at the surface of superconducting tunnel junction detectors. Journal of Applied Physics, 85(1), 565-570. DOI: 10.1063/1.369490 General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Superconducting tunnel junctions ͑STJs͒ are promising as high energy resolution x-ray detectors. However, the theoretical limit of the energy resolution of STJs has not yet been reached for several reasons. In many cases quasiparticle losses limit the energy resolution. We have investigated STJs with different multilayer structures by means of low temperature scanning electron microscopy. By measuring the quasiparticle lifetime of Nb junctions with and without Ta passivation at the surface, we have identified quasiparticle losses at the surface of nonpassivated junctions as the dominant loss process. The temperature dependence of the quasiparticle lifetime gives information about the loss mechanism. The influence of quasiparticle traps on the effective quasiparticle lifetime is discussed.

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