Particle and radiation detection with low-temperature devices

Basic operation principles of low-temperature particle detectors, both phonon and quasi-particle mediated, are briefly reviewed. State-of-art of single quantum detection with these devices is presented: outstanding results have been obtained by several groups in optical, X and gamma spectroscopy; also alpha, beta, heavy ion and nuclear recoil detection has taken advantage from this new technique. The unique features of these devices allow their use in many fields, ranging from fundamental physics (neutrino properties, dark matter search, astronomy) to biology and industrial applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.