According to the researchers, increasing the wire\u2019s thickness enhanced its ability to absorb energy from high-energy charged particles<\/a>. \u201cFor the first time, we used SMSPDs to measure the detection efficiency of muons, potentially expanding their use for new avenues of exploration,\u201d Pe\u00f1a added. <\/p>\n The team is now exploring the feasibility of using muons, one of the fundamental subatomic particles, in a future high-energy muon collider<\/a>. Muons are 200 times heavier than electrons. Their unique properties and behaviors make them useful for studying fundamental forces and particles.<\/p>\n Future particle experiments will need powerful colliders that generate millions of events per second. This means that new detectors must be capable of detecting and tracking individual particles in both space and time with increasing precision. <\/p>\n According to the research team, SMSPD sensors, called 4D sensors as they can achieve better spatial and time resolution all at once, show strong potential to meet this demand.<\/p>\n Exploring dark matter<\/p>\n In comparison with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), SMSPDs offer a larger active area, which increases their ability to detect and track charged particles more effectively.<\/p>\n This, as per the team, makes them promising candidates for future accelerator-based experiments, and for dark matter searches, as research into the technology continues to advance rapidly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to make strides in developing these sensors with greater precision and greater efficiency to meet the needs of next-generation particle accelerators,\u201d Si Xie, PhD, a physicist at Fermilab and joint appointee at Caltech, pointed out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have a lot of work to do, but this research shows we are progressing very well,\u201d Xie elaborated in a press release<\/a>. \u201cWe are excited to continue studying and improving these devices so they can help facilitate new physics discoveries.\u201d<\/p>\n In a parallel effort, in a separate project, some of the same researchers carried out the first detailed temperature-dependent study of an SMSPD sensor array to use in low-background dark matter detection experiments.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Z2_8754e3.jpg\" "\\"CERN")
The researchers tested superconducting microwire detectors for efficient high-energy particle detection at CERN\u2019s test beam. Credit: Cristi\u00e1n Pe\u00f1a, Fermilab<\/a><\/p>\n