Clarence L. Chang
Assistant Physicist Clarence L. Chang (HEP), will discuss his Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) sponsored work at the LDRD Seminar Series presentation Tuesday, June 27, 2017.
“Transition Edge Sensors for Fundamental Physics” begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 203 Auditorium. All are welcome to attend.
Abstract
Detectors are needed for all branches of experimental physics and applied technology. They are the enabling resource for pushing measurements to higher precision and lead to new, innovative experiments and applications. Transition Edge Sensors (TES) are a particularly exciting class of detectors because they enable detector arrays with sensitivity exceeding that of other kinds of technologies (like semiconductors), opening up untraditional applications and new directions of research. The TES is an ultra-sensitive thermal detector utilizing a metal’s superconducting-to-normal transition to provide operational stability and linearity. As a low-impedance low-noise device fabricated using modern thin film processing, the TES is well suited to array implementations.
At Argonne, the lab’s multi-divisional expertise in nanofabrication (NST), materials science (MSD) and integrated superconducting systems (HEP) has provided a unique combination of capabilities for pushing the forefront of TES array technology. In collaboration with a number of university collaborators, including the University of Chicago, we have developed new materials and fabrication techniques for TES arrays, which have opened up new opportunities in basic science. In this talk, I will present some results from our detector development and discuss how this technology has led to new research applications including studies of our cosmic origins and the physics of neutrino mass.
Biography
Clarence Chang is an assistant physicist in Argonne’s High Energy Physics Division, an assistant professor with the University of Chicago’s Astronomy and Astrophysics department and a senior member of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago.
Chang collaborates with a group of researchers using the South Pole Telescope (SPT) to determine the fundamental properties of the universe, giving researchers unique information about the origins and evolution of our universe. He helped instrument and operate the SPT, which is equipped with a unique Argonne-made sensor technology to measure and characterize thermal radiation signatures generated billions of years ago. Chang has made several trips to the South Pole.
In 2013, Chang was the recipient of the Early Career Research Program award from the U.S. Department of Energy. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2005 where he worked on using superconducting detectors to search for Dark Matter.