We developed a transition‐edge sensor microcalorimeter(μ‐calorimeter)using Mo/Au/Au thin films.We report the detector fabrication,the measurements of the electrothermal parameters and the noise characterizations of the transition‐edge sensor μ‐calorimeters.We estimated the energy resolution of theμ‐calorimeter using the measured noise spectrum and the calculated power‐to‐current responsivity.Using a ^(55)Fe radioactive X‐ray source,we characterized the detector responses to incident photons at various working points.The best instrumental energy resolution achieved was 4.13 eV@5.9 keV,which agrees qualitatively with the resolution of 4.01 eV estimated from the noise spectrum.
Despite the great potential of photosynthetic microbes in the production of renewable fuels,value-adding chemicals,and water treatment,etc.,commercial utilization of them is significantly hindered by the lack of techniques to accurately monitor the thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of the in-situ growth of microbes under controlled light illumination for optimal cultivation.Herein,we demonstrated that a newly developed highly sensitive photo-microcalorimetric system successfully captured the impacts of the light wavelength and strength on the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the in-situ growth of Rhodopseudomonas palustris,a representative photosynthetic microorganism.To our best knowledge,this is the first time that highly precise microcalorimetry is employed to monitor exam the in-situ growth of photosynthetic microorganisms under controllable photo illumination.We envision this technique can help for the optimization of the growth conditions of photosynthetic microorganisms for scale-up applications.
