Statistics – Applications
Scientific paper
Mar 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998aps..mar..i503s&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, Annual March Meeting, March 16-20, 1998 Los Angeles, CA, abstract #I5.03
Statistics
Applications
Scientific paper
We are developing superconducting, single photon imaging spectrometers for x-ray, UV and visible photon energies. Photons absorbed in these devices excite charge carriers, with the total charge providing a measure of the photon's energy. The intrinsic accuracy of this measurement is limited by the statistics of the initial charge creation. Several type of semiconductor detectors, including CCD's and photodiodes, also operate in a similar fashion. However, since the size of the energy gap in a superconductor is two to three orders of magnitude lower than in a semiconductor, the charge is created in a superconducting detector is two to three orders of magnitude higher for the same photon energy. This results in better energy resolution and a greater range of detectable energies. The charge readout in these detectors is through a superconducting tunnel junction (STJ); the photon-induced charge causes an increase above the junctions thermal current, which is then amplified and integrated. In our devices we couple two STJ's to a single superconducting absorber, causing the signal to divide between the two junctions. The ratio of the two charges can then be used to tell the absorption location, thus allowing for one-dimensional imaging. At x-ray energies these devices are predicted to have very good energy resolution, of order 0.1% in the keV range. The spatial imaging can be done with only a few channels of readout, making them attractive for applications in x-ray astronomy. In the visible range the STJ's can combine single photon timing, non-dispersive spectroscopy and imaging in a single detector, not available with any technology at these energies. These features make them potentially attractive in many areas, including UV and visible astronomy. We will discuss applications, operation of the devices, physics of the charge creation and readout, and factors limiting the spatial and spectral resolution.
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