Particle calorimeter with normal metal base layer
US5634718A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 27, 1994 |
| Grant date | Jun 3, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 27, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01T1/1606
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A detector of X-ray and the like in which very good resolution of energy can be obtained. The device is based on two basic components. The first is the x-ray absorber in which an x-ray interacts with a film and converts its energy into heat. Because the absorber is operated at cryogenic temperatures, approximately the range of 0.01 Kelvin to 1 Kelvin, its heat capacity is small and causes a measurable temperature rise. The second component of the invention is a base layer of normal metal which absorbs the heat generated by the x-ray. The third component of the invention is the method to detect the temperature rise. This thermometer is based on a normal metal-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction, where part of the base layer is the normal metal. When the tunnel junction is electrically biased at a voltage slightly below the gap voltage of the superconductor, the electrical current that flows through the junction is sensitively dependent on the temperature of the normal metal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.