High energy resolution bolometers for nuclear physics and x-ray spectroscopy

Two bolometers composed of tin absorbers and neutron transmutation doped (N TD) Ge thermistors have been fabricated in preparation for experiments in n uclear and subnuclear physics. Both detectors fully resolve the two K-alpha 1 and K-alpha 2 lines of Mn-55. The deconvolved FWHM resolution in this en ergy region ranges from 4.5 to 5.7 eV, for different published values of in trinsic widths and asymmetries of these lines, the best ever obtained at th is energy with any energy dispersive detector. The K-beta' satellite peak i s analyzed far the first time in a measurement with an energy dispersive sp ectrometer. [S0031-9007(98)08172-1].