NASA SBIR 00-1 SOLICITATION
FORM 9B - PROJECT SUMMARY
PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 17.01-9072 (Chron: 000929 )
PROJECT TITLE
Large Format X-Ray Magnetic Calorimeters with Multiplexed SQUID Readouts
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
An innovative large format cryogenic x-ray detector is described that is based on an array of magnetic microcalorimeters and fast, multiplexed SQUID readouts. The proposed microcalorimeter design consists of a thick-film x-ray absorber deposited on top of a paramagnetic alloy that is coupled to a sensitive dc SQUID. The energy deposited by incident radiation causes a temperature increase and subsequent change of the alloy magnetization, which is precisely measured by the SQUID. Owing to the unsurpassed flux sensitivity, high intrinsic bandwidth and low power dissipation of dc SQUIDs, these devices are ideally suited to read out magnetic calorimeters. A novel sequential readout scheme is used to multiplex the outputs, which greatly reduces the thermal heat load of the SQUIDs and the number of wires to the room-temperature electronics. The innovative magnetic microcalorimeter and multiplexed SQUID readout designs to be completed during Phase I and fabricated during Phase II will offer improved performance over current generation designs. These detectors will especially be useful for applications requiring large format arrays of x-ray calorimeters, such for NASA missions and astrophysics research as well as commercial microanalysis systems.
POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The main products to be developed during Phase I and Phase II include SQUID magnetic calorimeters and multi-pixel arrays with fast, multiplexed SQUID readouts and associated electronics. The primary applications and markets for these products are in instrumentation for research in astrophysics and detectors for commercial x-ray microanalysis systems. Given the large installed base of x-ray microanalysis systems, this application alone represents a substantial commercial opportunity.
NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
(Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Robin Cantor
STAR Cryoelectronics, LLC
862 Estates Drive
Los Alamos , NM 87544 - 2781
NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR
(Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
STAR Cryoelectronics, LLC
862 Estates Drive
Los Alamos , NM 87544 - 2781