Detection of Low-Energy Electrons with Transition-Edge Sensors

TL;DR

This paper reports the first successful detection of low-energy electrons around 100 eV using transition-edge sensors, demonstrating high energy resolution and opening new avenues for precise electron energy measurements.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel method for detecting low-energy electrons with TES devices, achieving high energy resolution and demonstrating compatibility with photon detection.

Findings

Achieved Gaussian energy resolution between 0.8 and 1.8 eV for electrons.

Demonstrated detection of electrons in the 90-101 eV range.

Validated TES performance for low-energy electron detection.

Abstract

We present the first detection of electrons with kinetic energy in the 100 eV range with transition-edge sensors (TESs). This has been achieved with a $(100\times 100)$ $\mu$m$^2$ Ti-Au bilayer TES, with a critical temperature of about 84 mK. The electrons are produced directly in the cryostat by an innovative cold source based on field emission from vertically-aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes. We obtain a Gaussian energy resolution between 0.8 and 1.8 eV for fully-absorbed electrons in the $(90-101)$ eV energy range, which is found to be compatible with the resolution of this same device for photons in the same energy range. This work opens new possibilities for high-precision energy measurements of low-energy electrons.