A Dutch consortium led by SRON has received an NWO grant of twelve million Euro, making The Netherlands an important partner within ESA/NASA’s LISA mission—the first space detector for gravitational waves. It also prepares The Netherlands for its role within LISA’s terrestrial cousin—the Einstein Telescope.
Month: February 2023
New type of bolometer detector for far-infrared telescopes
To study how stars and planets are born we have to look at star cradles hidden in cool clouds of dust. Far-infrared telescopes are able to pierce through those clouds. Conventionally, niobium nitride bolometers are used as the detectors, despite their low operating temperature of 4 Kelvin (-269° Celsius). Now Yuner Gan (SRON/RUG), together with a team of scientists at SRON, TU Delft, Chalmers University and RUG, has developed a new type of bolometer, made of magnesium diboride, with an operating temperature of 20 Kelvin or above. This can significantly reduce the cost, complexity, weight and volume of the space instruments. Publication on 17 February in Journal of Applied Physics.
