Initial development of a superconducting crystal x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer

Harrie Netel; Matthias A. Frank; Simon E. Labov; Geoffrey H. Campbell; Carl A. Mears; Lawrence J. Hiller; Mark A. Lindeman; E. Brunet

doi:10.1117/12.218380

1 September 1995 Initial development of a superconducting crystal x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer

Harrie Netel, Matthias A. Frank, Simon E. Labov, Geoffrey H. Campbell, Carl A. Mears, Lawrence J. Hiller, Mark A. Lindeman, E. Brunet

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Proceedings Volume 2518, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VI; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218380
Event: SPIE's 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1995, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Superconducting tunnel junctions can be used as high resolution x-ray and gamma-ray detectors. Until recently, most results were from detectors that consisted of niobium and aluminum thin films deposited on insulating substrates. Typically Nb films with thicknesses of several hundred nanometers are used as absorbers. These thin film devices inherently suffer from poor quantum efficiency. To increase this efficiency a foil or a single crystal, which can be thicker and can have a larger area than the thin films, can be used as the superconducting absorber. We are working on using ultra-pure, high-Z, superconducting crystals as the x-ray and gamma-ray absorbers. We are planning to fabricate a detector which uses a 10 micrometer-thick Ta crystal as the absorber, which will have a quantum efficiency of greater than 99% at 6 keV. As a test of the different processing steps we fabricated Al/AlOx/Al superconducting tunnel junctions on top of a 30 micrometer thick Al foil. In this paper several of the fabrication issues involved are presented as well as the first results from the Al foil test devices.

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Harrie Netel, Matthias A. Frank, Simon E. Labov, Geoffrey H. Campbell, Carl A. Mears, Lawrence J. Hiller, Mark A. Lindeman, and E. Brunet "Initial development of a superconducting crystal x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer", Proc. SPIE 2518, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, (1 September 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218380

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KEYWORDS

Crystals

Superconductors

Aluminum

Spectroscopy

Quasiparticles

Sensors

X-rays

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