Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a nanocryotron device to facilitate the operation of new particle colliders.
The new device acts like a superconductivity switch, boosting the signal of tiny particles in particle colliders.
It does this by turning up a particle’s electrical signal high enough to where it turns off the superconductivity of the material.
“This work is especially important for collider experiments, such as those that will be performed at the Electron-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory,” said Argonne Distinguished Fellow and group leader Zein-Eddine Meziani.
A paper based on the study was published in Applied Physics Letters.
Why is the new device important?
Particle colliders reveal the hidden secrets of the tiniest constituents of our Universe.
Miniature particles in these devices leave behind faint electrical traces when they are generated in enormous collisions.
Some detectors use superconductivity to function. But to more accurately observe the behaviour of these particles, the electrical signals left behind need to be multiplied.
To do this, an instrument capable of turning a faint electrical flicker into a jolt is required.
Preparing the nanocryotron for a collider experiment
Preparing the nanocryotron for a particle collider experiment will take more work because of the high magnetic fields involved.
Although today’s particle detectors can withstand high magnetic fields, this switch’s performance degrades when exposed to such high magnetism.
“Finding ways to make the device work in higher magnetic fields is key to incorporating it into a real experiment,” said Argonne graduate research assistant Timothy Draher, one of the study’s authors.
Modifying the device for use in particle colliders
To make the device work in higher magnetic fields, the researchers will change the geometry of the material and introduce defects.
The defects will help researchers stabilise small superconducting vortices in the material. This movement can lead to an unanticipated disruption of superconductivity.
The nanocryotron was created using electron beam lithography. This technique uses a beam of electrons to remove a polymer film to expose a region of interest.
The region is then etched using plasma ion etching.
“We basically just strip away the parts that are exposed, leaving behind the device that we want to use,” Draher said.
Work to perform reactive ion etching of the superconducting films in the experiment was carried out at the Centre for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE User Facility.
The research was funded by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Physics.
