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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Toward high-resolution low-energy electron spectroscopy with transition-edge sensors

R. Ammendola1, A. Apponi2, G. Benato3,4, M. G. Betti5,6, R. Biondi3,4, P. Bos7,8, M. Cadeddu9, A. Casale10, O. Castellano2,11 et al. (PTOLEMY Collaboration)

O. Castellano2,11, G. Cavoto5,6, L. Cecchini5, E. Celasco12,13, M. Chirico5,6, W. Chung14, A. G. Cocco3, A. P. Colijn7,8, B. Corcione5,6,*, N. D’Ambrosio3, M. D’Incecco3, G. De Bellis5,15, M. De Deo3, N. de Groot16, A. Esposito5,6, M. Farino14, S. Farinon12, A. D. Ferella3,17, L. Ferro9,18, L. Ficcadenti5, G. Galbato Muscio5,19, S. Gariazzo20,21,22, H. Garrone20,23,24, F. Gatti12,13, F. Malnati20,23,25, G. Mangano26,27, L. E. Marcucci28,29, C. Mariani5,6, J. Mead7,8, G. Menichetti29, M. Messina3, E. Monticone20,23, M. Naafs7, S. Nagorny3,4, V. Narcisi1,30, F. Pandolfi5, R. Pavarani9,18, C. Pepe23,31, C. Pérez de los Heros32, O. Pisanti26,27, F. M. Pofi3,4, A. D. Polosa5,6, I. Rago5, M. Rajteri20,23, S. Ritarossi2,11, N. Rossi3, A. Ruocco2,11, G. Salina1, A. Santucci9,18, M. Sestu9,18, A. Tan14, V. Tozzini28,33, C. G. Tully14, I. van Rens16, F. Virzi3,17, G. Visser7, and M. Viviani28 (PTOLEMY Collaboration)

  • 1INFN Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
  • 2INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Roma, Italy
  • 3INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), L’Aquila, Italy
  • 4Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), L’Aquila, Italy
  • 5INFN Sezione di Roma, Roma, Italy
  • 6Dipart. di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy
  • 7Nationaal instituut voor subatomaire fysica (NIKHEF), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 8Dept. of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 9INFN Sezione di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
  • 10Dept. of Physics, Columbia University, New York, USA
  • 11Dipart. di Scienze, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, Roma, Italy
  • 12INFN Sezione di Genova, Genova, Italy
  • 13Dipart. di Fisica, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy
  • 14Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA
  • 15Dipart. di Ingegneria Elettrica ed Energetica (DIEE), Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy
  • 16Dept. of Physics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 17Dipart. di Fisica, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
  • 18Dipart. di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
  • 19Dipart. di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy
  • 20INFN Sezione di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 21Dipart. di Fisica, Università di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 22Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (IFIC - CSIC/UV), Paterna (Valencia), Spain
  • 23Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM), Torino, Italy
  • 24Dipart. di Elettronica & Telecomunicazioni (POLITO-ELN), Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 25Dipart. Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 26INFN Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
  • 27Dipart. di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy
  • 28INFN Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
  • 29Dipart. di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
  • 30Dept. of Fusion and Technology for Nuclear Safety and Security ENEA, Frascati, Italy
  • 31Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
  • 32Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
  • 33CNR-Instituto Nanoscienze, Pisa, Italy

  • *Contact author: benedetta.corcione@uniroma1.it
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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, L031004 – Published 9 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/dw1k-tcbp

Abstract

We present a study of the energy resolution of transition-edge sensors (TESs) for the detection of electrons in the 100-eV kinetic energy range. The TES is a Ti-Au bilayer with an active area of (60×60) μm2 and a critical temperature of approximately 80  mK. The electron source is based on vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes located inside the cryostat, with electrons generated via field emission. For electrons in the (92–99)  eV kinetic energy range, we obtain a Gaussian energy resolution for fully absorbed electrons of (0.48±0.04±0.06)  eV, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. When considering the full-width at half-maximum of the peak of the signal amplitude distribution, the corresponding resolution is of (1.4±0.2±0.3)  eV. The former represents an improvement of (47–60)% with respect to previous results and is mainly attributed to the reduction in the TES active area. The latter is instead an improvement of over a factor of 21 and is mainly due to the reduction in the emitting area of the electron source, which significantly suppresses electron back-scattering in proximity of the TES. These results represent a major milestone toward high-precision spectroscopy on low-energy electrons, which is a key objective for the PTOLEMY experiment.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, L031004– Published 9 September, 2026
  • Received 26 February 2026
  • Revised 5 June 2026
  • Accepted 14 July 2026
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