CRITICAL CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILM PARTICLE DETECTORS

A brief review of the experimental and theoretical work of Spiel and Boom and of Sullivan on superconducting nuclear particle detectors is presented. Their thermal diffusion model has been improved and solutions for the dynamic behavior of thermal spikes in thin superconducting films have been obtained so that the treatment of the critical current characteristics of the detectors in the absence of joule heating is now substantially complete. It appears that some important features of the behavior of thermal spikes in thin films cannot be understood on the basis of classical thermal diffusion calculations alone. The applicability of the thermal diffusion model is considered and the effects which may make the approach inadequate are discussed. (Author)