1
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Fitzgerald RP, Alpert BK, Becker DT, Bergeron DE, Essex RM, Morgan K, Nour S, O’Neil G, Schmidt DR, Shaw GA, Swetz D, Verkouteren RM, Yan D. Toward a New Primary Standardization of Radionuclide Massic Activity Using Microcalorimetry and Quantitative Milligram-Scale Samples. J Res Natl Inst Stand Technol 2022; 126:126048. [PMID: 38469443 PMCID: PMC10112850 DOI: 10.6028/jres.126.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/05/2021] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
We present a new paradigm for the primary standardization of radionuclide activity per mass of solution (Bq/g). Two key enabling capabilities are 4π decay-energy spectrometry using chip-scale sub-Kelvin microcalorimeters and direct realization of mass by gravimetric inkjet dispensing using an electrostatic force balance. In contrast to traditional traceability, which typically relies on chemical separation of single-radionuclide samples, 4π integral counting, and additional spectrometry methods to verify purity, the system described here has both 4π counting efficiency and spectroscopic resolution sufficient to identify multiple radionuclides in the same sample at once. This enables primary standardization of activity concentrations of mixed-radionuclide samples. A major benefit of this capability, beyond metrology, is in assay of environmental and forensics samples, for which the quantification of multiplenuclide samples can be achieved where presently inhibited by interferences. This can be achieved without the need for chemical separations or efficiency tracers, thereby vastly reducing time, radioactive waste, and resulting measurement uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan P. Fitzgerald
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
USA
| | - Bradley K. Alpert
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
| | | | - Denis E. Bergeron
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
USA
| | - Richard M. Essex
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
USA
| | - Kelsey Morgan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
- University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309,
USA
| | - Svetlana Nour
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
USA
| | - Galen O’Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
| | - Dan R. Schmidt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
| | - Gordon A. Shaw
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
USA
| | - Daniel Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
| | | | - Daikang Yan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305,
USA
- University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309,
USA
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2
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Cui X, Meng YS, Yuan W, Li Y. Theoretical Analysis and Determination of the Correction Factor for a Waveguide Microcalorimeter. Sensors (Basel) 2019; 20:s20010245. [PMID: 31906209 PMCID: PMC6983108 DOI: 10.3390/s20010245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 12/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper proposes a new method for determining the correction factor of a newly developed waveguide primary power measurement system (i.e., microcalorimeter), based on the electromagnetic field theory analysis for waveguide thermal isolation section (TIS) in foil short measurement mode. The new method determines the contribution of the power dissipated within the TIS into the correction factor, in term of the physical dimensions of the TIS. Performance comparison and analysis show that the newly proposed method can significantly reduce the measurement uncertainty when evaluating the correction factor of waveguide microcalorimeters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohai Cui
- National Institute of Metrology, Beijing 100013, China; (W.Y.); (Y.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-10-6452-5221
| | - Yu Song Meng
- National Metrology Centre, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore 118221, Singapore;
| | - Wenze Yuan
- National Institute of Metrology, Beijing 100013, China; (W.Y.); (Y.L.)
| | - Yong Li
- National Institute of Metrology, Beijing 100013, China; (W.Y.); (Y.L.)
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3
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Shirron PJ, Kimball MO, James BL, Muench T, Canavan ER, DiPirro MJ, Bialas TA, Sneiderman GA, Boyce KR, Kilbourne CA, Porter FS, Fujimoto R, Takei Y, Yoshida S, Mitsuda K. Design and on-orbit operation of the Soft X-ray Spectrometer ADR on the Hitomi Observatory. J Astron Telesc Instrum Syst 2018; 4:021403. [PMID: 31534985 PMCID: PMC6750051 DOI: 10.1117/1.jatis.4.2.021403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) instrument that flew on the Astro-H observatory was designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy of x-rays in the energy range of 0.2 to 13 keV with a resolution requirement of 7 eV or better. This was accomplished using a 6x6 array of x-ray microcalorimeters cooled to an operating temperature of 50 mK by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The ADR consisted of three stages in order to operate using either a 1.2 K superfluid helium bath or a 4.5 K Joule-Thomson (JT) cryocooler as its heat sink. The design was based on the following operating strategy. After launch, while liquid helium was present (cryogen mode), two of the ADR's stages would be used to single-shot cool the detectors, using the helium as a heat sink. When the helium was eventually depleted (cryogen-free mode), all three ADR stages would be used to continuously cool the helium tank to about 1.5 K, and to single-shot cool the detectors (to 50 mK), using the JT cryocooler as a heat sink. The Astro-H observatory, renamed Hitomi after its successful launch in February 2016, carried approximately 36 liters of helium into orbit. Based on measurements during ground testing, the average heat load on the helium was projected to be 0.66 mW, giving a lifetime of more than 4 years. On day 5, the helium had cooled to <1.4 K and ADR operation began, successfully cooling the detector array to 50 mK. The ADR's hold time steadily increased to 48 hours as the helium cooled to a temperature of 1.12 K. As the commissioning phase progressed, the ADR was recycled (requiring approximately 45 minutes) periodically, either in preparation for science observations or whenever the 50 mK stage approached the end of its hold time. In total, 18 cycles were completed by the time an attitude control anomaly led to an unrecoverable failure of the satellite on day 38. This paper presents the design, operation and on-orbit performance of the ADR in cryogen mode as the foreshortened mission did not provide an opportunity to test cryogen-free mode.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Bryan L. James
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA 20771
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kevin R. Boyce
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA 20771
| | | | | | | | - Yoh Takei
- ISAS/JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshino-dai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan
| | - Seiji Yoshida
- Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., Niihama, Ehime 792-8555, Japan
| | - Kazuhisa Mitsuda
- ISAS/JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshino-dai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan
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4
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Wulf D, Jaeckel F, McCammon D, Morgan KM. Technique for Recovering Pile-up Events from Microcalorimeter Data. J Low Temp Phys 2016; 184:431-435. [PMID: 31359887 PMCID: PMC6662219 DOI: 10.1007/s10909-015-1445-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We report here a technique for processing microcalorimeter data that offers improved live-time over conventional optimal filtering techniques without loss of spectral resolution. Separate filters optimized for pulse amplitude and pulse arrival time (constructed in the usual way from the averaged signal and noise spectral densities) are applied to the entire pixel data stream. Pulses in the resulting filtered streams are then simultaneously fit as the sum of scaled and shifted copies of an isolated filtered pulse template. Analysis using calibration data from the University of Wisconsin/Goddard Space Flight Center X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) sounding rocket payload demonstrates the ability of this technique to recover pulses separated by as little as the rise-time of the detectors without observable spectral broadening.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Wulf
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - F Jaeckel
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - D McCammon
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - K M Morgan
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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5
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Doriese W, Morgan K, Bennett D, Denison E, Fitzgerald C, Fowler J, Gard J, Hays-Wehle J, Hilton G, Irwin K, Joe Y, Mates J, O’Neil G, Reintsema C, Robbins N, Schmidt D, Swetz D, Tatsuno H, Vale L, Ullom J. Developments in Time-Division Multiplexing of X-ray Transition-Edge Sensors. J Low Temp Phys 2016; 184:389-395. [PMID: 27325902 PMCID: PMC4912049 DOI: 10.1007/s10909-015-1373-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a mature scheme for the readout of arrays of transition-edge sensors (TESs). TDM is based on superconducting-quantum-interference-device (SQUID) current amplifiers. Multiple spectrometers based on gamma-ray and X-ray microcalorimeters have been operated with TDM readout, each at the scale of 200 sensors per spectrometer, as have several astronomical cameras with thousands of sub-mm or microwave bolometers. Here we present the details of two different versions of our TDM system designed to read out X-ray TESs. The first has been field-deployed in two 160-sensor (8 columns × 20 rows) spectrometers and four 240-sensor (8 columns × 30 rows) spectrometers. It has a three-SQUID-stage architecture, switches rows every 320 ns, and has total readout noise of 0.41 μΦ0/√Hz. The second, which is presently under development, has a two-SQUID-stage architecture, switches rows every 160 ns, and has total readout noise of 0.19 μΦ0/√Hz. Both quoted noise values are non-multiplexed and referred to the first-stage SQUID. In a demonstration of this new architecture, a multiplexed 1-column × 32-row array of NIST TESs achieved average energy resolution of 2.55±0.01 eV at 6 keV.
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Affiliation(s)
- W.B. Doriese
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K.M. Morgan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D.A. Bennett
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - E.V. Denison
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C.P. Fitzgerald
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J.W. Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J.D. Gard
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J.P. Hays-Wehle
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G.C. Hilton
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K.D. Irwin
- Stanford University Department of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Y.I. Joe
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J.A.B. Mates
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G.C. O’Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C.D. Reintsema
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - N.O. Robbins
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D.R. Schmidt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D.S. Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - H. Tatsuno
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L.R. Vale
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J.N. Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
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6
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Alpert B, Ferri E, Bennett D, Faverzani M, Fowler J, Giachero A, Hays-Wehle J, Maino M, Nucciotti A, Puiu A, Swetz D, Ullom J. Algorithms for Identification of Nearly-Coincident Events in Calorimetric Sensors. J Low Temp Phys 2015; 184:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-015-1402-y. [PMID: 33087985 PMCID: PMC7574403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
For experiments with high arrival rates, reliable identification of nearly-coincident events can be crucial. For calorimetric measurements to directly measure the neutrino mass such as HOLMES, unidentified pulse pile-ups are expected to be a leading source of experimental error. Although Wiener filtering can be used to recognize pile-up, it suffers errors due to pulse-shape variation from detector nonlinearity, readout dependence on sub-sample arrival times, and stability issues from the ill-posed deconvolution problem of recovering Dirac delta-functions from smooth data. Due to these factors, we have developed a processing method that exploits singular value decomposition to (1) separate single-pulse records from piled-up records in training data and (2) construct a model of single-pulse records that accounts for varying pulse shape with amplitude, arrival time, and baseline level, suitable for detecting nearly-coincident events. We show that the resulting processing advances can reduce the required performance specifications of the detectors and readout system or, equivalently, enable larger sensor arrays and better constraints on the neutrino mass.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Alpert
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - E Ferri
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - D Bennett
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - M Faverzani
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - J Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - A Giachero
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - J Hays-Wehle
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - M Maino
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - A Nucciotti
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - A Puiu
- Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca · INFN Sez. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - D Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - J Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
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7
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Uhlig J, Doriese WB, Fowler JW, Swetz DS, Jaye C, Fischer DA, Reintsema CD, Bennett DA, Vale LR, Mandal U, O'Neil GC, Miaja-Avila L, Joe YI, El Nahhas A, Fullagar W, Gustafsson FP, Sundström V, Kurunthu D, Hilton GC, Schmidt DR, Ullom JN. High-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy with transition-edge sensors: present performance and future potential. J Synchrotron Radiat 2015; 22:766-75. [PMID: 25931095 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515004312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) is a powerful element-selective tool to analyze the oxidation states of atoms in complex compounds, determine their electronic configuration, and identify unknown compounds in challenging environments. Until now the low efficiency of wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometer technology has limited the use of XES, especially in combination with weaker laboratory X-ray sources. More efficient energy-dispersive detectors have either insufficient energy resolution because of the statistical limits described by Fano or too low counting rates to be of practical use. This paper updates an approach to high-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy that uses a microcalorimeter detector array of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs). TES arrays are discussed and compared with conventional methods, and shown under which circumstances they are superior. It is also shown that a TES array can be integrated into a table-top time-resolved X-ray source and a soft X-ray synchrotron beamline to perform emission spectroscopy with good chemical sensitivity over a very wide range of energies.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Uhlig
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - W B Doriese
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J W Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D S Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C Jaye
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - D A Fischer
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - C D Reintsema
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D A Bennett
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L R Vale
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - U Mandal
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - G C O'Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L Miaja-Avila
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - Y I Joe
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - A El Nahhas
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - W Fullagar
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - V Sundström
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - D Kurunthu
- Department of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - G C Hilton
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D R Schmidt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J N Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, MS 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
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Abstract
The self-discharge heat losses of cardiac pacemaker power cells and pacemakers were investigated by microcalorimetry. Results were obtained with small alkaline, mercury and lithium-iodine batteries under open-circuit and external load conditions to monitor their heat loss characteristics and to gather information on the self-discharge mechanism. Results obtained with "complete pacemakers" are also reported.
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