High Energy Resolution Bolometers for Nuclear Physics and X-Ray Spectroscopy

Two bolometers composed of tin absorbers and neutron transmutation doped (NTD) Ge thermistors have been fabricated in preparation for experiments in nuclear and subnuclear physics. Both detectors fully resolve the two $K_{\alpha 1}$ and $K_{\alpha 2}$ lines of ${}^{55}\mathrm{Mn}$. The deconvolved FWHM resolution in this energy region ranges from 4.5 to 5.7 eV, for different published values of intrinsic widths and asymmetries of these lines, the best ever obtained at this energy with any energy dispersive detector. The $K_{{\beta }^{\prime }}$ satellite peak is analyzed for the first time in a measurement with an energy dispersive spectrometer.