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Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

Sub-Kelvin Detector Fabrication and Characterization Capability 

Wonsik Yoon operates a dilution refrigerator to test magnetic microcalorimeters at sub-Kelvin temperatures in a Goddard Space Flight Center lab. Photo Credit: Nick Costen
Wonsik Yoon operates a dilution refrigerator to test magnetic microcalorimeters at sub-Kelvin temperatures in a Goddard Space Flight Center lab. Photo Credit: Nick Costen

Advancing NASA Missions: The Role of Ultracold Temperatures in High-Performance Detector Systems

Using temperatures below 1 K in detector systems opens access of NASA mission concepts to exquisite performance metrics and instrument designs.  A vanishingly narrow superconducting wire can enable photon counting of emanations from faint astrophysical sources. Dense metals can be electroplated, micropatterned and integrated with an array of tiny thermometers to become a high-resolution imaging spectroscope of galactic extended x-ray emitters.   Ultrafine superconducting wires can be shaped into miniature transmission lines and microwave antennae to create low power, compact readout arrangements for large arrays of these sensors approaching the ultimate quantum limits.  Our labs at Goddard Space Flight Center maintain high standards of equipment performance to produce these integrated circuits and provide access to ultralow temperatures for materials characterization and assessment of performance.

Edward Wassell electroplates bismuth films onto a wafer of superconducting transition edge sensor microcalorimeters in GSFC’s Detector Development Lab.
Edward Wassell electroplates bismuth films onto a wafer of superconducting transition edge sensor microcalorimeters in GSFC’s Detector Development Lab.

Sub-Kelvin Detector Fabrication and Characterization Capability is managed by ETD’s Instrument System and Technology Division (ISTD). Contact ISTD for more information.