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news release:
Delft nano-detector very
promising for remote cosmic realms
Delft, Netherlands, January 17, 2007: A
miniscule but super-sensitive sensor can help solve the mysteries of outer
space. Cosmic radiation, which contains the terahertz frequencies that the
sensors detect, offers astronomers important new information about the birth of
star systems and planets. Merlijn Hajenius developed these sensors for Delft
University of Technology's
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, in close cooperation with the
SRON Netherlands Institute for
Space Research. He will receive his Delft University of Technology PhD degree on
19 January based on this research subject.
The detector, called a 'hot electron bolometer',
is based on the well-known phenomenon that electrical resistance increases when
something is heated up. The use of a superconductor renders the detector
extremely sensitive and allows it to be used for radiation that until now could
not be so well detected.
The detector works for terahertz frequencies,
which astronomers and atmospheric scientists are extremely interested in. The
detector's core is comprised of a small piece of superconducting niobiumnitride.
Clean superconducting contacts that are kept at a constant temperature of –268
°C (five degrees above absolute zero) are attached to both ends of the
superconducting niobiumnitride.
A miniscule gold antenna catches the
terahertz-radiation and sends it via the contacts to the small piece of
niobiumnitride, which functions as an extremely sensitive thermometer. "By
reading this thermometer, we can very accurately measure the terahertz
radiation. In Delft, we have set a world record with this detector in the
frequency area above 1.5 terahertz," Hajenius says proudly.
The results have convinced astronomers to use
these detectors for the new observatory in Antarctica (HEAT), and a new space
mission (ESPRIT) has also been proposed.
The ‘maiden flight’ of Hajenius’ detector is
planned for next year, but it will not take place in a satellite used for
studying cosmic clouds, but rather in a balloon that will study the earth's
atmosphere. The TELIS instrument, which SRON is currently working on, will be
equipped with a Delft University of Technology detector and will measure the
molecules in the atmosphere above Brazil that influence the formation of the
hole in the ozone layer.
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