CERN tests microwire quantum sensors for particle colliders and dark matter detection

A superconducting microwire single-photon detector, or SMSPD, under study.Christina Wang, Fermilab Researchers in the US have revealed that an emerging class of quantum sensors, called superconducting microwire single-photon detectors (SMSPDs), could spot high-energy particles and dark matter with exceptional precision. The study was led by Illinois’ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), and was carried out at CERN. It brought together collaborators from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. For the project, the team used SMSPDs to improve particle detection efficiency and timing. These characteristics are reportedly essential for future accelerator-based experiments and dark matter searches. Cristián Peña, PhD, a scientist at the Fermilab Quantum Institute, who headed the study, highlighted why the findings matter. “This research is significant because it shows improvement from our initial measurements using SMSPDs for charged particle detection,” he explained. Tracking particles Earlier findings proved that SMSPDs can sense individual charged particles such as electrons, protons and pions. In contrast, the current research improved both detection efficiency and timing resolution by using a thicker tungsten silicide film. According to the researchers, increasing the wire’s thickness enhanced its ability to absorb energy from high-energy charged particles. “For the first time, we used SMSPDs to measure the detection efficiency of muons, potentially expanding their use for new avenues of exploration,” Peña added. The researchers tested superconducting microwire detectors for efficient high-energy particle detection at CERN’s test beam. Credit: Cristián Peña, Fermilab The team is now exploring the feasibility of using muons, one of the fundamental subatomic particles, in a future high-energy muon collider. Muons are 200 times heavier than electrons. Their unique properties and behaviors make them useful for studying fundamental forces and particles. Future particle experiments will need powerful colliders that generate millions of events per second. This means that new detectors must be capable of detecting and tracking individual particles in both space and time with increasing precision. According to the research team, SMSPD sensors, called 4D sensors as they can achieve better spatial and time resolution all at once, show strong potential to meet this demand. Exploring dark matter In comparison with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), SMSPDs offer a larger active area, which increases their ability to detect and track charged particles more effectively. This, as per the team, makes them promising candidates for future accelerator-based experiments, and for dark matter searches, as research into the technology continues to advance rapidly. “We are continuing to make strides in developing these sensors with greater precision and greater efficiency to meet the needs of next-generation particle accelerators,” Si Xie, PhD, a physicist at Fermilab and joint appointee at Caltech, pointed out. “We still have a lot of work to do, but this research shows we are progressing very well,” Xie elaborated in a press release. “We are excited to continue studying and improving these devices so they can help facilitate new physics discoveries.” In a parallel effort, in a separate project, some of the same researchers carried out the first detailed temperature-dependent study of an SMSPD sensor array to use in low-background dark matter detection experiments. “We are thrilled to have assembled a world-class team across several institutions to push this emerging research to the next level,” Peña concluded. Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Sign up for freeBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and PoliciesYou may unsubscribe at any time.0COMMENTByGeorgina JedikovskaBased in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her work has appeared in Daily Mail, Mirror, Daily Star, Yahoo, NationalWorld, Newsweek, Press Gazette and others. She covers stories on batteries, wind energy, sustainable shipping and new discoveries. When she's not chasing the next big science story, she's traveling, exploring new cultures, or enjoying good food with even better wine.TRENDINGLATEST17 solid-state battery ideas that may boost EV range, safety, and charging speed2Iran allegedly painted helicopter decoy on ground to waste costly IDF missiles3Iran threatens strike on Dimona, the heart of Israel's long-ambiguous nuclear program4US submarine sinks Iranian warship in first torpedo strike since World War II5World’s first bamboo fiber drone reaches 62 mph during first test flight in ChinaCheck ourSection!See AllFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AISubscribe toToday!Exclusive content, expert insights and a deeper dive into engineering and tech. 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No ads, no limits.Explore NowFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AIMore from EnergySee AllAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorJOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobA superconducting microwire single-photon detector, or SMSPD, under study.Christina Wang, Fermilab Researchers in the US have revealed that an emerging class of quantum sensors, called superconducting microwire single-photon detectors (SMSPDs), could spot high-energy particles and dark matter with exceptional precision. The study was led by Illinois’ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), and was carried out at CERN. It brought together collaborators from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. For the project, the team used SMSPDs to improve particle detection efficiency and timing. These characteristics are reportedly essential for future accelerator-based experiments and dark matter searches. Cristián Peña, PhD, a scientist at the Fermilab Quantum Institute, who headed the study, highlighted why the findings matter. “This research is significant because it shows improvement from our initial measurements using SMSPDs for charged particle detection,” he explained. Tracking particles Earlier findings proved that SMSPDs can sense individual charged particles such as electrons, protons and pions. In contrast, the current research improved both detection efficiency and timing resolution by using a thicker tungsten silicide film. According to the researchers, increasing the wire’s thickness enhanced its ability to absorb energy from high-energy charged particles. “For the first time, we used SMSPDs to measure the detection efficiency of muons, potentially expanding their use for new avenues of exploration,” Peña added. The researchers tested superconducting microwire detectors for efficient high-energy particle detection at CERN’s test beam. Credit: Cristián Peña, Fermilab The team is now exploring the feasibility of using muons, one of the fundamental subatomic particles, in a future high-energy muon collider. Muons are 200 times heavier than electrons. Their unique properties and behaviors make them useful for studying fundamental forces and particles. Future particle experiments will need powerful colliders that generate millions of events per second. This means that new detectors must be capable of detecting and tracking individual particles in both space and time with increasing precision. According to the research team, SMSPD sensors, called 4D sensors as they can achieve better spatial and time resolution all at once, show strong potential to meet this demand. Exploring dark matter In comparison with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), SMSPDs offer a larger active area, which increases their ability to detect and track charged particles more effectively. This, as per the team, makes them promising candidates for future accelerator-based experiments, and for dark matter searches, as research into the technology continues to advance rapidly. “We are continuing to make strides in developing these sensors with greater precision and greater efficiency to meet the needs of next-generation particle accelerators,” Si Xie, PhD, a physicist at Fermilab and joint appointee at Caltech, pointed out. “We still have a lot of work to do, but this research shows we are progressing very well,” Xie elaborated in a press release. “We are excited to continue studying and improving these devices so they can help facilitate new physics discoveries.” In a parallel effort, in a separate project, some of the same researchers carried out the first detailed temperature-dependent study of an SMSPD sensor array to use in low-background dark matter detection experiments. “We are thrilled to have assembled a world-class team across several institutions to push this emerging research to the next level,” Peña concluded. Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Sign up for freeBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and PoliciesYou may unsubscribe at any time.0COMMENTByGeorgina JedikovskaBased in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her work has appeared in Daily Mail, Mirror, Daily Star, Yahoo, NationalWorld, Newsweek, Press Gazette and others. She covers stories on batteries, wind energy, sustainable shipping and new discoveries. When she's not chasing the next big science story, she's traveling, exploring new cultures, or enjoying good food with even better wine.TRENDINGLATEST17 solid-state battery ideas that may boost EV range, safety, and charging speed2Iran allegedly painted helicopter decoy on ground to waste costly IDF missiles3Iran threatens strike on Dimona, the heart of Israel's long-ambiguous nuclear program4US submarine sinks Iranian warship in first torpedo strike since World War II5World’s first bamboo fiber drone reaches 62 mph during first test flight in ChinaCheck ourSection!See AllFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AISubscribe toToday!Exclusive content, expert insights and a deeper dive into engineering and tech. No ads, no limits.Explore NowFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AIMore from EnergySee AllAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorWEAR YOUR GENIUSShop NowJOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobCheck ourSection!See AllFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AISubscribe toToday!Exclusive content, expert insights and a deeper dive into engineering and tech. No ads, no limits.Explore NowFront LinesIran's missile power and Hormuz disruption raise global energy stakesCase StudiesInverse design meets 4D printing in mechanical metamaterialsSpaceThe model that built modern cosmology now faces new testsCase StudiesCan CRISPR gene drives reinvent pest control?ResearchThe true cost and future of AIMore from EnergySee AllAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorAI and RoboticsNew light-based photonic chips enable robotic learning without electronic computationEnergyNew thermal batteries use waste heat to cut data center cooling electricity use by 86%Energy10 MWe steam turbine to boost next-gen sodium-cooled US nuclear reactor’s efficiencyEnergyEV range could get a boost with sulfur-based cathode for solid-state batteriesEnergyBill Gates-backed TerraPower wins US nod to build 345 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactorJOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee Job