A six-degree-of-freedom micro-vibration acoustic isolator for low-temperature radiation detectors based on superconducting transition-edge sensors

A Review of X-ray Microcalorimeters Based on Superconducting Transition Edge Sensors for Astrophysics and Particle Physics

The state-of-the-art technology of X-ray microcalorimeters based on superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs), for applications in astrophysics and particle physics, is reviewed. We will show the advance in understanding the detector physics and describe the recent breakthroughs in the TES design that are opening the way towards the fabrication and the read-out of very large arrays of pixels with unprecedented energy resolution. The most challenging low temperature instruments for space- and ground-base experiments will be described.

Picowatt calorimeter for optical absorption spectroscopy

An optical picowatt calorimeter at 4 K is demonstrated to measure absorption spectra from 330 nm to 1700 nm of optical samples. The minimum detectable absorbed power is 10 pW, resulting in absorption sensitivities of 0.3 ppm for 30 µW of incident power from a tunable source and 0.6 ppb for 15 mW laser excitation. Active temperature stabilization of main components of the cryogen-free cryostat and the use of paramagnetic temperature sensors with superconducting quantum interference device readout provided a low noise environment (700 nK temperature rms) and nK temperature resolution.