Abstract: The rapid progress of science and technology in the field of thin-film superconductors, combined with advances in closed-cycle cryogenics, has enabled a spread of interest in superconducting detectors in multiple areas of research that requires high sensitivity and low noise across the electromagnetic spectrum. Transition edge sensors have been instrumental in studies of cosmic microwave background or dark matter searches, and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are the technology of choice in the emerging fields of quantum communication and information sciences.

In this talk, I will present the physics of operation of these devices, discuss the technological challenges of adapting these technologies to experiments in nuclear and neutrino physics, and present recent progress in research and development efforts in the Physics and Materials Science divisions at Argonne toward this goal.