With conventional mass spectrometry (MS), ions are separated according to mass/charge (m/z) ratios. We must speculate the z values to obtain the m values. Superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detectors can solve this problem, and true mass spectrometry becomes possible instead of m/z spectrometry. The STJ detectors were installed in MS instruments with a variety of ion sources. As an example, we report fragmentation analysis of a non-covalent protein complex of hemoglobin.

A sensitive eight-channel high-Tc Superconducting Interference Device (SQUID) detection system for magnetic contaminant in a lithium ion battery anode was developed. Finding ultra-small metallic foreign matter is an important issue for a manufacturer because metallic contaminants carry the risk of an internal short. When contamination occurs, the manufacturer of the product suffers a great loss from recalling the tainted product. Metallic particles with outer dimensions smaller than 100 microns cannot be detected using a conventional X-ray imaging system. Therefore, a highly sensitive detection system for small foreign matter is required. We have already developed a detection system based on a single-channel SQUID gradiometer and horizontal magnetization. For practical use, the detection width of the system should be increased to at least 65 mm by employing multiple sensors. In this paper, we present an 8-ch high-Tc SQUID roll-to-roll system for inspecting a lithium-ion battery anode with a width of 65 mm. A special microscopic type of a cryostat was developed upon which eight SQUID gradiometers were mounted. As a result, small iron particles of 35 microns on a real lithium-ion battery anode with a width of 70 mm were successfully detected. This system is practical for the detection of contaminants in a lithium ion battery anode sheet.

Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) are one of the most competitive low temperature detector (LTD) readout sensors. They have the advantages of high time resolution, no heat dissipation, and a wide range of operating temperature. We apply MMCs to our neutrinoless double beta decay ($0v{\beta}{\beta}$) search experiment. A $CaMoO_4$ crystal was employed as both a source of $0v{\beta}{\beta}$ and an energy absorber. The crystal was thermally connected to a MMC sensor. We set a simple thermal model for this detector and measured pulse shapes are compared with a numerical solution of the thermal model.

Superconducting detectors are promising as ion detectors for time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOF MS). They can achieve mass-independent detection efficiency even for macromolecular bombardments, because output signals are produced through the deposited kinetic energy at ion impact instead of secondary electron emission that is the ion detection mechanism of conventional microchannel plate (MCP) detectors or secondary electron multipliers (SEM). Among the superconducting detectors, the superconducting strip ion detectors (SSIDs), which consist of several hundreds of superconducting lines with a width of a few hundreds nm and a thickness of a few tens of nm, have a fast response time of less than 1 ns. Inherently, the response time of SSIDs is determined by kinetic inductance, so that it was difficult to realize a fast SSID with a large detection area. However, we succeeded in realizing the detector size up to $5{\times}5mm^2$ without response time degradation by using a parallel configuration.

Bias current dependence of a superconducting strip photon detector is studied in the wavelength range of 405 to 1310 nm. The detector is made of an $MgB_2$ meander pattern with the line width of 135 nm and thickness of 10 nm. At 1310 nm, the detection efficiency exponentially decreases as the bias current decreases. While at 405 nm, the detection efficiency almost saturates in the high bias current region. These features suggest that the intrinsic detection efficiency of the $MgB_2$ detector is high at 405 nm.

Fluorescent yield X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy is useful for analyzing local structure of specific elements in matrices. We developed an XAFS apparatus with a 100-pixel superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detector array with a high sensitivity and a high resolution for light-element dopants in wide-gap semiconductors. An STJ detector has a pixel size of $100{\mu}m$ square, and an asymmetric layer structure of Nb(300 nm)-Al(70 nm)/AlOx/Al(70 nm)-Nb(50 nm). The 100-pixel STJ array has an effective area of $1mm^2$. The XAFS apparatus with the STJ array detector was installed in BL-11A of High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Photon Factory (KEK PF). Fluorescent X-ray spectrum for boron nitride showed that the average energy resolution of the 100-pixels is 12 eV in full width half maximum for the N-K line, and The C-K and N-K lines are separated without peak tail overlap. We analyzed the N dopant atoms implanted into 4H-SiC substrates at a dose of 300 ppm in a 200 nm-thick surface layer. From a comparison between measured X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectra and ab initio FEFF calculations, it has been revealed that the N atoms substitute for the C site of the SiC lattice.

We are developing meander-shaped metallic magnetic calorimeters using micro-fabrication methods. A planar Nb coil in a meander shape was fabricated on a Si substrate. The coil was designed to have a persistent current using a metal heater evaporated on a part of the coil. A paramagnetic sensor, $5{\mu}m$ thick Au:Er foil, was glued on top of the meander structure with epoxy. The magnetization and heat capacity were measured at different temperatures, and applied field currents matched well with expected values. The detector showed an energy resolution of 4 keV FWHM for the 5.5 MeV alpha particles.

Superconducting sensors and detectors have been applied to many fields or beginning to enter the maturing stage. The applications spread over a wide range of fields such as radio telescope, medical examination, quantum information, contamination inspection, materials analysis, etc. For users of the superconducting devices as well as developers, we have to avoid confusion of naming, graphical circuit symbols, and measurement methods for device performance. We are trying to formulate international standards under the International Electrotechnical Commission - Technical Committee 90 (IEC-TC90), which is responsible for superconductivity. The sensors and detectors to be considered are divided into two groups: coherent sensors (SQUID, SIS mixers, etc.) and direct detectors (TES, STJ, MKID, SSPD, etc.).

Samples with nominal compositions of $RuSr_2(Eu_{1.34-x}Tb_xCe_{0.66})Cu_2O_z$ (x = 0, 0.67) were prepared and their superconductivity and magnetic properties were compared to shed light on the effect of Tb substitution for Eu. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the Tb substitution resulted in a decrease in both a and c lattice parameters in consistent with ionic size difference between Eu and Tb. Contrary to the Tb-free sample, no superconducting transition behavior is observed in the Tb-sustituted sample. It is also found that the Tb substitution for Eu significantly increases the weak-ferromagnetic component of the field-cooled magnetic susceptibility as well as an increase in the magnetic ordering temperature. These results suggest that the magnetic state of the Ru sublattice is significantly affected by the Tb substitution for Eu.

Effect of mixed gas and additional Mg powder in an annealing process of the $MgB_2$ is investigated. Four different type of samples were prepared, each in different annealing environment of Ar, $Ar+4%H_2$, Ar with Mg powder and $Ar+4%H_2$ with Mg powder. Different annealing environment did not affect the electron-phonon interaction which is reflected from the same superconducting transition of 36.6 K for all samples. The reducing effect of hydrogen is clearly depicted from the presence of excess Mg in sample synthesized in $Ar+4%H_2$ gas implying the reduced rate of reaction between Mg and B. This has manifested itself in terms of slightly increased high-field critical current density of the sample. In contrast, the sample synthesized in $Ar+4%H_2$ with Mg powder, has shown overall enhancement in the superconducting properties as presented by higher diamagnetic saturation and critical current density.

Current leads are one of the important components for carrying the current to the coil in the superconducting magnet system. Heat leakage through the current lead is the major factor of entire heat load in the cryogenic system because current leads carry the current from room temperature to near 4 K, connecting thermally each other. Therefore, minimization heat load through current lead can reduce the operating temperature of superconducting magnet. The semi-retractable current lead, composed of multi-contact connector and HTS element, is one of good options. Comprehension of Multi-contact connector's structure, contact resistance and heat generation is essential for estimating heat generation in current leads. Multi-contact connector has several louvers inside of socket and the shape, number, size of louvers are different with the size of connector. Therefore contact area, current path and contact resistance are also different. In this study, the contact resistance in multi-contact connector is measured using the electrical power as a function of connector's size and temperature. Also, the unique correlation of electrical contact resistance is derived and heat generation is estimated for superconducting magnet application.