Active radiometric calorimeter for absolute calibration of radioactive sources

Abstract

This report describes the design and initial noise floor measurements of a radiometric calorimeter designed to measure therapeutic medical radioactive sources. The instrument demonstrates a noise floor of approximately 2 nW. This low noise floor is achieved by using high temperature superconducting (HTS) transition edge sensor (TES) thermometers in a temperature-control feedback loop. This feedback loop will be used to provide absolute source calibrations based upon the electrical substitution method. Other unique features of the calorimeter are (a) its ability to change sources for calibration without disrupting the vacuum of the instrument, and (b) the ability to measure the emitted power of a source in addition to the total contained source power.