Transition-edge sensor: Difference between revisions

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==Advantages and disadvantages==

TES detectors are attractive to the scientific community for a variety of reasons. Among their most striking attributes are an unprecedented high detection efficiency customizable to wavelengths from the millimeter regime to gamma rays,<ref name=IrwinHilton /><ref name=NIST /> and a theoretical negligible background dark count level (less than 1 event in 1000 s from intrinsic [[Phonon noise|thermal fluctuations]] of the device<ref name=NIST2 />). (In practice, although only a real energy signal will create a current pulse, a nonzero background level may be registered by the counting algorithm or the presence of background light in the experimental setup. Even thermal [[blackbody radiation]] may be seen by a TES optimized for use in the visible regime.)

TES single-photon detectors suffer nonetheless from a few disadvantages as compared to their [[Single-photon avalanche diode|avalanche photodiode]] (APD) counterparts. APDs are manufactured in small modules, which count photons out-of-the-box with a [[dead time]] of a few nanoseconds and output a TTL pulse corresponding to each photon with a jitter of tens of picoseconds. In contrast, TES detectors must be operated in a cryogenic environment, output a signal whichthat must be further analyzed to identify photons, and have a jitter of approximately 100 ns.<ref name=NIST /> Furthermore, a single -photon spike on a TES detector lasts on the order of microseconds.

==Applications==