Speaker
Description
Transition-edge sensors (TESs) are thin superconducting films operated close to their critical temperature (T_c), which have been employed as micro-calorimeters with excellent intrinsic energy resolution in the detection of photons. Recent works have explored their potential for the detection of electrons. This is a key point for the PTOLEMY experiment, which plans to measure low-energy electrons with a TES array to detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background, and to measure the neutrino mass. To achieve this, an energy resolution (FWHM) of ~120 meV on electrons with a kinetic energy of 10 eV is needed. The setup at INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica), in Italy, which uses a cold electron source based on field emission from carbon nanotubes, coupled with gold/titanium TES devices with T_c ~ 90 mK, has detected single electrons in the 100 eV energy range with an energy resolution compatible with that of photons of the same energy. In our new results, we have drastically reduced partially-absorbed electrons achieving a FWHM about 20 times better than in previous measurements. This represents a major milestone in the development of high-precision electron spectroscopy with TES devices. We will further discuss the next steps towards achieving the PTOLEMY resolution goal.
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