Vibrational excitation induced by electron beam and cosmic rays in normal and superconductive aluminum bars

We report new measurements of the acoustic excitation of an Al5056 superconductive bar when hit by an electron beam, in a previously unexplored temperature range, down to 0.35 K. These data, analyzed together with previous results of a dedicated experiment obtained for T >0.54K, show a vibrational response enhanced by a factor ∼4.9 with respect to that measured in the normal state. This enhancement explains the anomalous large signals due to cosmic rays previously detected in the NAUTILUS gravitational wave detector. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved