Percolation model of excess electrical noise in transition-edge sensors

Abstract: We present a geometrical model to describe excess electrical noise in transition-edge sensors (TESs). In this model, a network of fluctuating resistors represents the complex dynamics inside a TES. The fluctuations can cause several resistors in series to become superconducting. Such events short out part of the TES and generate noise because much of the current percolates through low resistance paths. The model predicts that excess white noise increases with decreasing TES bias resistance (R/R N) and that perpendicular zebra stripes reduce noise and alpha of the TES by reducing percolation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]