PT Journal
AU Marksteiner, M
   Divochiy, A
   Sclafani, M
   Haslinger, P
   Ulbricht, H
   Korneev, A
   Semenov, A
   Gol'tsman, G
   Arndt, M
TI A superconducting NbN detector for neutral nanoparticles
SO Nanotechnol.
JI Nanotechnol.
PY 2009
BP 455501
VL 20
IS 45
DI 10.1088/0957-4484/20/45/455501
LA English
DE SSPD; SNSPD; *Electric Conductivity; Microscopy; Electron; Scanning; Nanoparticles/*chemistry/ultrastructure; Nanotechnology/*methods; *Photons
AB We present a proof-of-principle study of superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) for the detection of individual neutral molecules/nanoparticles at low energies. The new detector is applied to characterize a laser desorption source for biomolecules and allows retrieval of the arrival time distribution of a pulsed molecular beam containing the amino acid tryptophan, the polypeptide gramicidin as well as insulin, myoglobin and hemoglobin. We discuss the experimental evidence that the detector is actually sensitive to isolated neutral particles.
ER