Bremsstrahlung Thin Foil Calorimeters

Thin gold foil calorimeters have traditionally been used to diagnose Bremsstrahlung sources. While the calorimeter only absorbs a small fraction of the incident fluence and emphasizes the colder part of the spectrum, it provides a measure of the dose that typical semi-conductor devices would see. A 25 µm-thick gold foil has become a standard for diagnosing Bremsstrahlung sources that are used to investigate the radiation hardness of electronic components and cables.

The Ktech thin foil calorimeter uses Type K thermocouple wires welded to the gold absorber. The thermocouple wires are flattened prior to welding to ensure a robust, small and repeatable lead weld. This is important if thermal losses from the absorber to the thermocouple wires are to be accurately estimated. The gold foil absorber is mounted to an insulated cylinder as shown. Ktech has developed multiplexed data acquisition systems to record these sensors, as well as the deconvolution techniques necessary to interpret the thermocouple records.

Special orders such as dimensional and material variations on the above transducer assemblies are welcome.