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Our Compton profile measurements of Ti and TiH2 using readily available hard X-ray radiation at 27.5 keV, detected by both a Hitachi Vortex silicon-drift detector and a high-resolution superconducting transition-edge sensor array, are found to be in excellent accord with state-of-the-art density functional theory based calculations. The spherically averaged difference between the Compton profiles of TiH2 and Ti is well described by an inverted parabola, supporting an itinerant behavior of the electron gas screening the protons in the Ti matrix. Our experimental approach, validated by two different detectors, extends the applicability of Compton scattering technique to the readily accessible hard x-ray regime (below 30 keV). Our study suggests possibilities for experiments at low-flux bending magnet synchrotron beamlines and paves the way for the development of tabletop Compton experiments with x-ray tubes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a new front-end application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to upgrade the Maia X-ray microprobe. The ASIC instruments 32 configurable channels that perform either positive or negative charge amplification, pulse shaping, peak amplitude, and time extraction along with buffered analog storage. At a gain of 3.6 V/fC, 1-μ s peaking time, and a temperature of 248 K, an electronic resolution of 13 and 10 e− rms was measured with and without a silicon drift detector (SDD) sensor, respectively. A spectral resolution of 170-eV full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) at 5.9 keV was obtained with an 55Fe source. The channel linearity was better than ± 1 % with rate capabilities up to 40 kcps. The ASIC was fabricated in a commercial 250-nm process with a footprint of 6.3 mm × 3.9 mm and dissipates 167 mW of static power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reset dynamics of niobium (Nb) superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are analyzed by using experimental measurements and numerical simulations. Latching has prevented reset and has precluded subsequent photon detection, thus showing that fast resetting to the superconducting state is essential.

Transition-edge sensors (TESs) as microcalorimeters for high-energy-resolution X-ray spectroscopy are often fabricated with an absorber made of materials with high Z (for X-ray stopping power) and low heat capacity (for high resolving power). Bismuth represents one of the most compelling options. TESs with evaporated bismuth absorbers have shown spectra with undesirable and unexplained low-energy tails. We have developed TESs with electroplated bismuth absorbers over a gold layer that are not afflicted by this problem and that retain the other positive aspects of this material. To better understand these phenomena, we have studied a series of TESs with gold, gold/ evaporated bismuth, and gold/electroplated bismuth absorbers, fabricated on the same die with identical thermal coupling. We show that the bismuth morphology is linked to the spectral response of X-ray TES microcalorimeters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are developing room temperature electronics based upon the ROACH platform to readout microwave multiplexed X-ray TES. ROACH is an open-source hardware and software platform featuring a large Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Power PC processor, several 10 GB Ethernet SFP+ interfaces, and a collection of daughter boards for analog signal generation and acquisition. The combination of a ROACH board, ADC/DAC conversion daughter boards, and hardware for RF mixing allows for the generation and capture of multiple RF tones for reading out microwave multiplexed X-ray TES microcalorimeters. The FPGA is used to generate multiple tones in base band, from 10 MHz to 250 MHz, which are subsequently mixed to RF in the multiple GHz range and sent through the microwave multiplexer. The tones are generated in the FPGA by storing a large lookup table in Quad Data Rate SRAM modules and playing out the waveform to a DAC board. Once the signal has been modulated to RF, passed through the microwave multiplexer, and has been modulated back to base band, the signal is digitized by an ADC board. The tones are modulated to 0 Hz by using a FPGA circuit consisting of a polyphase filter bank, several Xilinx FFT blocks, Xilinx CORDIC blocks (for converting to magnitude and phase), and special phase accumulator circuit for mixing to exactly 0 Hz. Upwards of 256 channels can be simultaneously captured and written into a bank of 256 First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memories, with each FIFO corresponding to a channel. Individual channel data can be further processed in the FPGA before being streamed through a 10 GB Ethernet fiber-optic interface to a Linux system. The Linux system runs software written in Python and QT C++ for controlling the ROACH system, capturing data, and processing data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We describe a new superconductive three-terminal device that acts as a fast pulse amplifier and discriminator. The device is based on a parallel nano-wire configuration. The nano-wires are properly biased near their critical current. When a current pulse of sufficient amplitude is injected into one of the wires, a transition to the normal state of all the wires occurs, thus generating a large output current pulse. This device could be used as a pulse amplifier for signals generated by nano-wire detectors or by RSFQ circuits. The parallel nano-wire structure can be realized with the same fabrication process used for NbN Superconducting Single Photon Detector (SSPD), so its integration into the existing technology is straightforward. Here we present numerical simulations of the device, with special attention to circuit requirement for the correct operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cascade switch superconducting nanowire single photon detectors has been fabricated of ultrathin NbN films deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering at room temperature on MgO substrates. Detectors using 4 to 24 nanowires in parallel, having an area coverage of 5 × 6 μm2 and a filling factor of 40%, have been investigated. Signal amplitudes increase with the number of parallel nanowires and reaches 12.3 mV with a signal noise of 20 μV. The range of bias currents where the detectors emit signal pulses also increase with the, number of parallel nanowires and exceeds the nanowire critical current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave kinetic inductance detectors provide highly multiplexed arrays of detectors that can be configured to operate from the sub-millimeter to the x-ray regime. We have examined two tungsten silicide alloys (W5Si3 and WSi2), which are dense alloys that provide a critical temperature tunable with composition, large kinetic inductance fraction, and high normal-state resistivity. We have fabricated superconducting resonators and provide measurement data on critical temperature, surface resistance, quality factor, noise, and quasiparticles lifetime. Tungsten silicide appears to be promising for microwave kinetic inductance detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]