The Quantum Calorimeters Group at NIST is developing advanced quantum sensors that can detect the energy of single photons and particles with unprecedented precision. These devices, known as microcalorimeters, are typically made from superconducting materials and use quantum mechanical properties to achieve extremely sensitive measurements.
The group has developed two main types of quantum sensors: Transition-Edge Sensors (TESs) and Thermal Kinetic Inductance Detectors (TKIDs). TESs can measure the energy of single x-ray and gamma-ray photons with a precision better than one part per thousand, while TKIDs can measure the energy of charged particles over several orders of magnitude with similar precision.
In addition to the individual sensors, the group also develops complete spectroscopic measurement systems based on arrays of these superconducting microcalorimeter sensors. These systems can work with arrays of hundreds to thousands of microcalorimeter pixels in a deployable instrument.
The x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers developed by the group combine good spectral resolving power and good collecting efficiency in a way that is not possible with other detector technologies. This enables new measurement modalities and is being implemented in experiments at synchrotron beamlines, particle accelerators, nuclear analysis labs, table-top x-ray systems, and suborbital balloons.
These detectors are providing new measurement capability for a wide range of applications, including materials analysis, quantum information, astrophysics, microelectronics defect analysis and supply chain verification, and the accumulation of atomic and nuclear reference data for industry and nuclear security.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/pml/quantum-sensors/quantum-calorimeters
Keywords: Microcalorimeter, Superconductivity, Spectroscopy, Photon, Precision
