High Resolution Alpha Particle Spectroscopy with Cryogenic Microcalorimeters

Author

Ullom, J.N. ; Horansky, R.D. ; Beall, J.A. ; Doriese, W.B. ; Duncan, W.D. ; Ferreira, L. ; Hilton, G.C. ; Irwin, K.D. ; Reintsema, C.D. ; Vale, L. ; Rabin, M.W. ; Hoover, A.S. ; Lamont, S.P. ; Rudy, C.R.

Author_Institution

National Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Boulder, CO

Volume

3

fYear

2006

fDate

Oct. 29 2006-Nov. 1 2006

Firstpage

1630

Lastpage

1632

Abstract

We present measurements from a novel cryogenic microcalorimeter designed to detect alpha particles. We demonstrate a spectral resolution of 4.4 keV FWHM for 5.3 MeV alpha particles from a ²¹⁰Po source. In addition, we present an alpha spectrum from a mixture of Pu isotopes demonstrating the feasibility of resolving the individual contributions of ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu. The unmatched resolution of microcalorimeter alpha detectors will provide new capabilities for actinide analysis. We discuss potential applications and also sensor design.

Keywords

alpha-particle detection; alpha-particle spectroscopy; calorimeters; plutonium; polonium; ²¹⁰Po; ²³⁹Pu; ²⁴⁰Pu; actinide analysis; alpha particle detection; cryogenic microcalorimeters; high resolution alpha particle spectroscopy; microcalorimeter alpha detectors; Alpha particles; Cryogenics; Detectors; Energy resolution; Fluctuations; Isotopes; NIST; Silicon; Spectroscopy; Temperature sensors; alpha spectroscopy; microcalorimeter; nuclear forensics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2006. IEEE

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

ISSN

1095-7863

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0560-2

Electronic_ISBN

1095-7863

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.2006.354209

Filename

4179322