Intermediate states near the normal–superconducting transition at ∼100 mK, important for a sensitive thermometer in x-ray calorimetry, have been studied by an imaging technique based on low temperature scanning synchrotron microscopy (LTSSM). In conjunction with iridium superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) operating in electrothermal feedback mode, the LTSSM visualizations reveal that a normal–superconducting phase separation actually takes place in the intermediate states.

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