[en] With conventional mass spectrometry (MS), ions are separated according to mass/charge (m/z) ratios. We must speculate the z values to obtain the m values. Superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detectors can solve this problem, and true mass spectrometry becomes possible instead of m/z spectrometry. The STJ detectors were installed in MS instruments with a variety of ion sources. As an example, we report fragmentation analysis of a non-covalent protein complex of hemoglobin.

[en] Superconducting detectors are promising as ion detectors for time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOF MS). They can achieve mass-independent detection efficiency even for macromolecular bombardments, because output signals are produced through the deposited kinetic energy at ion impact instead of secondary electron emission that is the ion detection mechanism of conventional microchannel plate (MCP) detectors or secondary electron multipliers (SEM). Among the superconducting detectors, the superconducting strip ion detectors (SSIDs), which consist of several hundreds of superconducting lines with a width of a few hundreds nm and a thickness of a few tens of nm, have a fast response time of less than 1 ns. Inherently, the response time of SSIDs is determined by kinetic inductance, so that it was difficult to realize a fast SSID with a large detection area. However, we succeeded in realizing the detector size up to without response time degradation by using a parallel configuration.

[en] Fluorescent yield X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy is useful for analyzing local structure of specific elements in matrices. We developed an XAFS apparatus with a 100-pixel superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detector array with a high sensitivity and a high resolution for light-element dopants in wide-gap semiconductors. An STJ detector has a pixel size of 100μm square, and an asymmetric layer structure of Nb(300 nm)-Al(70 nm)/AlOx/Al(70 nm)-Nb(50 nm). The 100-pixel STJ array has an effective area of 1 mm². The XAFS apparatus with the STJ array detector was installed in BL-11A of High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Photon Factory (KEK PF). Fluorescent X-ray spectrum for boron nitride showed that the average energy resolution of the 100-pixels is 12 eV in full width half maximum for the N-K line, and The C-K and N-K lines are separated without peak tail overlap. We analyzed the N dopant atoms implanted into 4H-SiC substrates at a dose of 300 ppm in a 200 nm-thick surface layer. From a comparison between measured X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectra and ab initio FEFF calculations, it has been revealed that the N atoms substitute for the C site of the SiC lattice.

[en] Fast detectors with large area are required in time-of-flight mass spectrometers for high throughput analysis of biological molecules. We fabricated and characterized subnanosecond 1x1 mm² NbN superconducting strip-line detectors. The influence of the strip-line thickness on the temporal characteristics and efficiency of the detector for the impacts of keV accelerated molecules is investigated. We find that the increase of thickness improves both efficiency and response time. In the thicker sample we achieved a rise time of 380 ps, a fall time of 1.38 ns, and a higher count rate. The physics involved in this behavior is investigated.

[en] Superconducting strip line detectors (SSLDs) have the same nanostructure as so called Superconducting Single Photon Detectors (SSPDs) for ultrafast photon detection. However, the optimum SSLD design for mass spectrometers (MS) should be totally different from that of SSPD in order to realize meaningful sensitive area and reasonably fast response time for mass-independent detection. Recently, we have succeeded in obtaining mass spectra of Angiotensin I (MW = 1296 Da) at an energy of 17.5 keV using Nb-SSLDs. Since it is known that in NbN SSLDs the response time of SSLDs is governed by kinetic inductance, Nb films with a short London penetration depth have an advantage over NbN. In this study, the relationship between the detector structures and their performance is reported.

[en] Understanding and harnessing the physics of the dynamic current distribution in parallel superconducting strips holds the key to creating next generation sensors for single molecule and single photon detection. Non-uniformity in the current distribution in parallel superconducting strips leads to low detection efficiency and unstable operation, preventing the scale up to large area sensors. Recent studies indicate that non-uniform current distributions occurring in parallel strips can be understood and modeled in the framework of the generalized London model. Here we build on this important physical insight, investigating an innovative design with integrated superconducting-to-resistive Joule switches to break the superconducting loops between the strips and thus control the current dynamics. Employing precision low temperature nano-optical techniques, we map the uniformity of the current distribution before- and after the resistive strip switching event, confirming the effectiveness of our design. These results provide important insights for the development of next generation large area superconducting strip-based sensors. (letter)

[en] Highlights: • We proposed single-flux-quantum (SFQ) time-to-digital converters (TDCs) for TOF-MS. • SFQ TDC can measure time intervals between multiple signals with high-resolution. • SFQ TDC can directly convert the time intervals into binary data. • We designed two types of SFQ TDCs to reduce the jitter. • The jitter is reduced to less than 100 ps. - Abstract: We have been developing a high-resolution superconducting time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) system, which utilizes a superconducting strip ion detector (SSID) and a single-flux-quantum (SFQ) time-to-digital converter (TDC). The SFQ TDC can measure time intervals between multiple input signals and directly convert them into binary data. In our previous study, 24-bit SFQ TDC with a 3 × 24-bit First-In First-Out (FIFO) buffer was designed and implemented using the AIST Nb standard process 2 (STP2), whose time resolution and dynamic range are 100 ps and 1.6 ms, respectively. In this study we reduce the jitter of the TDC by using two different approaches: one uses an on-chip clock generator with an on-chip low-pass filter for reducing the noise in the bias current, and the other uses a low-jitter external clock source at room temperature. We confirmed that the jitter is reduced to less than 100 ps in the latter approach

[en] We review progress in the development and applications of superconducting nano-strip particle detectors. Particle detectors based on superconducting nano-strips stem from the parent devices developed for single photon detection (SSPD) and share with them ultra-fast response times (sub-nanosecond) and the ability to operate at a relatively high temperature (2–5 K) compared with other cryogenic detectors. SSPDs have been used in the detection of electrons, neutral and charged ions, and biological macromolecules; nevertheless, the development of superconducting nano-strip particle detectors has mainly been driven by their use in time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOF-MSs) where the goal of 100% efficiency at large mass values can be achieved. Special emphasis will be given to this case, reporting on the great progress which has been achieved and which permits us to overcome the limitations of existing mass spectrometers represented by low detection efficiency at large masses and charge/mass ambiguity. Furthermore, such progress could represent a breakthrough in the field. In this review article we will introduce the device concept and detection principle, stressing the peculiarities of the nano-strip particle detector as well as its similarities with photon detectors. The development of parallel strip configuration is introduced and extensively discussed, since it has contributed to the significant progress of TOF-MS applications. (paper)

[en] We realized a very fast and large Superconducting Strip Line Detector based on a parallel configuration of nanowires. The detector with size 200x200 μm² recorded a sub-nanosecond pulse width of 700 ps in FWHM (400 ps rise time and 530 ps relaxation time) for lysozyme monomers/multimers molecules accelerated at 175 keV in a Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer. This record is the best in the class of superconducting detectors and comparable with the fastest NbN superconducting single photon detector of 10x10 μm². We succeeded in acquiring mass spectra as the first step for a scale-up to ∼mm pixel size for high throughput MS analysis, while keeping a fast response.

[en] Superconducting stripline detectors (SSLDs) have promise as fast molecule detectors for time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). In this study, we have prepared NbN-SSLDs consisting of a meander structure with a thickness of 10 nm and a sensor size of 200 x 200 μm², which is larger than our previous sensor size of 50 x 50 μm² and the largest ever reported as NbN-SSLDs. Mass spectra were successfully acquired for Angiotensin I and lysozyme by using a time-to-digital converter (TDC). It was confirmed that the counting rate and hence the statistics of mass spectra were considerably improved, while the rise time of output pulse was kept to less than 1 ns by adjusting the kinetic inductance of the striplines. With the high statistics, we have investigated the bias current dependence of detection efficiency.