Fast-Response Calorimetric Sensors

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A high-resolution spectrometer based on low-temperature calorimetry has been developed with the use of a composite bolometer. The low specific heat at 1 degree K allows small amounts of energy deposited by single alpha and beta particles, or X-rays, to be detected as proportional temperature pulses. The initial motivation was a new type of neutrino mass measurement. Applications will be much broader, including X-ray astronomy, high resolution nuclear spectroscopy, material testing (e.g., energy loss measurements of particle beams traversing matter), determination of specific heats at low temperatures, and astrophysics. This project will seek to extend this work from 1 degree K to ~ 0.05 degrees K, where a thermodynamic resolution gain of ~ 103 to a few electron volts is predicted. Factors affecting detector resolution and time constants will be studied, and the use of the calorimeter exploited with spectrum measurements of external and implanted radioactive sources.