Advances in Engineering Advances in Engineering features breaking research judged by Advances in Engineering advisory team to be of key importance in the Engineering field. Papers are selected from over 10,000 published each week from most peer reviewed journals.
Journal of Low Temperature Physics, March 2014.
S. Friedrich, J. Harris, W. K. Warburton, M. H. Carpenter, J. A. Hall, R. Cantor.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA , 94550, USA &
XIA LLC, Hayward, CA , 94544, USA &
STAR Cryoelectronics, Santa Fe, NM , 87508, USA.
Abstract
We are developing the next generation of high-resolution high-speed X-ray detectors based on superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs). They consist of 112-pixel arrays of 208 μ m × 208 μ m Ta–Al– AlOx –Al–Ta tunnel junctions whose Ta absorber increases the detection efficiency compared to earlier Nb-based STJs. To read out these medium size detector arrays we have also developed a compact and scalable 32-channel preamplifier with an input voltage noise < 1 nV/ √Hz and a dc voltage bias for stable STJ operation between Fiske mode resonances. The pixels have a uniform response across the array, an energy resolution between 7.5 and 9.5 eV FWHM at 525 eV, and can be operated at several 1,000 counts/s per pixel.
