We show that cryogenically cooled, photon counting superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) can be used to simultaneously record the optical spectra from multiple biological fluorochromes. Measurements with a single-pixel tantalum STJ with a wavelength resolving power R=λ/Δλ of about 10 confirm the expected sensitivity advantage with respect to the photomultiplier-based detectors commonly used to record signals from microarrays and other fluorescent biological systems.

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