Seeing with superconductors

The devices made of superconducting material of photons and other particles are revolutionizing a wide range of research and technology fields. These tools are improving the sensitivity of measurements across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves through visible light to gamma rays. Detectors capable of counting individual visible photons are improving the security of quantum communication. Superconducting devices are also sensing biological polymers and searching for the weakly interacting particles that make up the mysterious dark matter constituting five sixths of the matter in the universe. Some astronomers will use superconducting detectors with polarization sensitivity to search for the cosmic gravity wave background. These big superconducting arrays will affect a broader range of disciplines, but they will take human vision into exciting new discovery.