Speaker: Dr. Thomas Cecil, Argonne National Laboratories
Abstract: Since their introduction ten years ago, microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) have been examined for applications ranging from the far infrared to gamma rays. Although these detectors have been shown to work with x-rays, several technical challenges have prevented their widespread use. At Argonne, we are developing thermal kinetic inductance detectors (TKIDs), a variation of the MKID in which the superconducting inductance serves as sensitive thermometer. In this talk I will provide a general overview MKIDs and introduce the concept of TKIDs. I will discuss our ongoing research into TKIDs, including device theory, thermal modeling, and device fabrication. Finally, I will discuss possible applications for TKIDs in X-ray spectroscopy.