Compositional analysis by a superconductor-based energy dispersive spectrometer

Cristiano, R., Casaburi, A. , Santagata, C., Phelan, K., Buhler, M. and Hohne, J. (2007) Compositional analysis by a superconductor-based energy dispersive spectrometer. IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 17(2), pp. 625-628. (doi: 10.1109/TASC.2007.897332)

Abstract

Energy dispersive spectrometers (EDS) are widely used in material science to provide elemental identification by analyzing the energy of characteristics fluorescence X-rays of an excited specimen. We present compositional analysis of materials of interest in various contexts (from electronics to cultural heritage). They were obtained by a superconductor/based - energy dispersive spectrometers (S-EDS) mounted on a scanning electron microscope. The superconducting detector is a Au/Mo/Pd transition edge sensor (TES) with a Au absorber and a SQUID read-out. The achieved energy resolution is 10 eV at an energy of 1.486 keV (one order of magnitude better than semiconductor based EDS). The working temperature is T = 110 mK and is obtained with a cryostat which uses a combination of a pulse tube cooler and a two-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. In this way there is no need of liquid coolant during the cool down operation. The complete system allows high performances morphological and compositional analysis representing a successful example of an electronics application of superconductivity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Casaburi, Dr Alessandro
• Authors: Cristiano, R., Casaburi, A., Santagata, C., Phelan, K., Buhler, M., and Hohne, J.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity
• ISSN: 1051-8223