Effect of On-Chip Magnetic Shielding for TES Microcalorimeters

• Published in: Journal of low temperature physics Vol. 151; no. 1-2; pp. 131 - 137
• Main Authors: Ishisaki, Y., Kurabayashi, H., Hoshino, A., Ohashi, T., Yoshino, T., Hagihara, T., Mitsuda, K., Tanaka, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.04.2008
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Magnetic Materials; Magnetism; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Microcalorimeter; 85.25.Oj; Transition edge sensor; 07.85.Nc; X-ray; 85.60.Gz
• ISSN: 0022-2291; 1573-7357
• DOI: 10.1007/s10909-007-9628-y

We investigated the magnet field dependence of the X-ray pulse height and the critical current of a Ti/Au bilayer TES micro-calorimeter. The pulse height was strongly affected by the magnetic field intensity applied perpendicularly to the TES surface. We found that the critical current at zero temperature, I c 0 , decreased by a factor of two by applying a magnet field of ∼10 μT. Our data are consistent with a TES sensitivity proportional to ( I / I c 0 ) −2/3 , as predicted by the Ginzburg-Landau theory. This fact implies that the shape of the R – T curve of the TES is partly determined by the critical current of the superconductor. In order to make our TES microcalorimeters less sensitive to the external magnetic field, we fabricated devices equipped with on-chip magnetic shielding. One device has a turn-around style electrical lead made of Al, in which the return line is laid beneath the Ti/Au TES. Another device has a Nb layer deposited between a multi-layer membrane. We demonstrated that the devices were usable below 200 μT with small degradation of the pulse height and energy resolution.