Nanocryotron “Superconductivity Switch” Supercharges Particle Detectors

Argonne researchers have created a new device that acts like a superconductivity switch, helping boost the signal of tiny particles in particle colliders.

In particle colliders that reveal the hidden secrets of the tiniest constituents of our universe, minute particles leave behind extremely faint electrical traces when they are generated in enormous collisions. Some detectors in these facilities use superconductivity — a phenomenon in which electricity is carried with zero resistance at low temperatures — to function.

For scientists to more accurately observe the behavior of these particles, these weak electrical signals, or currents, need to be multiplied by an instrument capable of turning a faint electrical flicker into a real jolt.