A strained silicon cold electron bolometer using Schottky contacts

We describe optical characterisation of a strained silicon cold electron bolometer (CEB), operating on a 350 mK stage, designed for absorption of millimetre-wave radiation. The silicon cold electron bolometer utilises Schottky contacts between a superconductor and an n++ doped silicon island to detect changes in the temperature of the charge carriers in the silicon, due to variations in absorbed radiation. By using strained silicon as the absorber, we decrease the electron-phonon coupling in the device and increase the responsivity to incoming power. The strained silicon absorber is coupled to a planar aluminium twin-slot antenna designed to couple to 160 GHz and that serves as the superconducting contacts. From the measured optical responsivity and spectral response, we calculate a maximum optical efficiency of 50% for radiation coupled into the device by the planar antenna and an overall noise equivalent power, referred to absorbed optical power, of 1.1×10−16 W Hz−1/2 when the detector is observing a 300 K source through a 4 K throughput limiting aperture. Even though this optical system is not optimized, we measure a system noise equivalent temperature difference of 6 mK Hz−1/2. We measure the noise of the device using a cross-correlation of time stream data, measured simultaneously with two junction field-effect transistor amplifiers, with a base correlated noise level of 300 pV Hz−1/2 and find that the total noise is consistent with a combination of photon noise, current shot noise, and electron-phonon thermal noise

Comprehensive evidence implies a higher social cost of CO2

The social cost of carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) measures the monetized value of the damages to society caused by an incremental metric tonne of CO2 emissions and is a key metric informing climate policy. Used by governments and other decision-makers in beneft–cost analysis for over a decade, SC-CO2 estimates draw on climate science, economics, demography and other disciplines. However, a 2017 report by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine1 (NASEM) highlighted that current SC-CO2 estimates no longer refect the latest research. The report provided a series of recommendations for improving the scientifc basis, transparency and uncertainty characterization of SC-CO2 estimates. Here we show that improved probabilistic socioeconomic projections, climate models, damage functions, and discounting methods that collectively refect theoretically consistent valuation of risk, substantially increase estimates of the SC-CO2. Our preferred mean SC-CO2 estimate is $185 per tonne of CO2 ($44–$413 per tCO2: 5$51 per tCO2. Our estimates incorporate updated scientifc understanding throughout all components of SC-CO2 estimation in the new open-source Greenhouse Gas Impact Value Estimator (GIVE) model, in a manner fully responsive to the near-term NASEM recommendations. Our higher SC-CO2 values, compared with estimates currently used in policy evaluation, substantially increase the estimated benefts of greenhouse gas mitigation and thereby increase the expected net benefts of more stringent climate policies

THE JUNE 2008 FLARE OF MARKARIAN 421 FROM OPTICAL TO TeV ENERGIES

We present optical, X-ray, high-energy ((sic) 30 GeV) and very high energy ((sic) 100 GeV; VHE) observations of the high-frequency peaked blazar Mrk 421 taken between 2008 May 24 and June 23. A high-energy gamma-ray signal was detected by AGILE with root TS = 4.5 between June 9 and 15, with F(E > 100 MeV) = 42(-12)(+14) x 10(-8) photons cm(-2) s(-1). This flaring state is brighter than the average flux observed by EGRET by a factor of similar to 3, but still consistent with the highest EGRET flux. In hard X-rays (20-60 keV) SuperAGILE resolved a five-day flare (June 9-15) peaking at similar to 55 mCrab. SuperAGILE, RXTE/ASM and Swift/BAT data show a correlated flaring structure between soft and hard X-rays. Hints of the same flaring behavior are also detected in the simultaneous optical data provided by the GASP-WEBT. A Swift/XRT observation near the flaring maximum revealed the highest 2-10 keV flux ever observed from this source, of 2.6 x 10(-9) erg cm(-2) s(-1) (i.e. > 100 mCrab). A peak synchrotron energy of similar to 3 keV was derived, higher than typical values of similar to 0.5-1 keV. VHE observations with MAGIC and VERITAS between June 6 and 8 showed the flux peaking in a bright state, well correlated with the X-rays. This extraordinary set of simultaneous data, covering a 12-decade spectral range, allowed for a deep analysis of the spectral energy distribution as well as of correlated light curves. The gamma-ray flare can be interpreted within the framework of the synchrotron self-Compton model in terms of a rapid acceleration of leptons in the jet