X-ray microcalorimeters with germanium resistance thermometers

Conference · Mon Aug 13 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6539787

Labov, S; Silver, E; Pfafman, T; Wai, Y ^[1]; Beeman, J; Goulding, F; Landis, D; Madden, N; Haller, E ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
2. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)

We report on the current of our work on x-ray microcalorimeters for use as high resolution x-ray spectrometers. To maximize the x-ray collecting area and the signal to noise ratio, the total heat capacity of the device must be minimized. This is best achieved if the calorimeter is divided into two components, a thermal sensor and an x-ray absorber. The thermal sensor is a neutron transmutation doped (NTD) germanium resistor made as small as possible to minimize the heat capacity of the calorimeter. The thermistor can be attached to a thin x-ray absorber with large area and low heat capacity fabricated from superconducting materials such as niobium. We discuss results from our most recent studies of such superconducting absorbers and present the x-ray spectra obtained with these composite microcalorimeters at a temperature of 0.1 K. An energy resolution of 19 eV FWHM has been measured. 14 refs., 3 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/DP
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6539787
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC-104994; CONF-900756--49; ON: DE91000658
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440101* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments
440500 -- Thermal Instrumentation-- (1990-)
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
CALORIMETERS
DESIGN
DETECTION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RESOLUTION
GERMANIUM
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
NIOBIUM
NOISE
RADIATION DETECTION
RESOLUTION
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SPECTROMETERS
THERMISTORS
THERMOMETERS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
X-RAY DETECTION
X-RAY SPECTROMETERS