Fast Josephson cryodetector for time of flight mass spectrometry

A fast current discriminator, based on Josephson junctions, has been developed to boost the performance of novel type of superconductive detectors in time-of- flight mass-spectrometers. The Josephson discriminator could greatly improve the mass resolution in such machines, and it is technologically compatible with the proposed superconductive tunnel junction detector. The effect of intrinsic thermally induced fluctuations in such a device has been investigated to identify the possible operating ranges, in terms of temperature, geometry and materials concerned. Experimental results on the feasibility of the proposed device are also reported.