title: A superconducting NbN detector for neutral nanoparticles.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. markus.arndt@univie.ac.at
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marksteiner
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Divochiy
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sclafani
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haslinger
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ulbricht
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korneev
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Semenov
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gol'tsman
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arndt
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D017785:Photons