<ul><li>An international team led by Cristián Peña at Fermilab has created a new detector using arrays of superconducting microwires to detect high-energy charged particles.</li><li>Unlike traditional single-photon detectors, the new detector uses thicker wires capable of absorbing large amounts of energy from fast-moving protons, electrons, and pions.</li><li>The superconducting microwire single-photon detector (SMSPD) was tested at Fermilab and showed sensitivity to various high-energy particles, with similar detection efficiency across different particle types.</li><li>Further research aims to optimize the superconducting material and sensor geometry of SMSPDs to enhance detection efficiency, position and timing precision, potentially contributing to a deeper understanding of fundamental physics.</li></ul>

Superconducting microwires detect high-energy particles

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