119 research outputs found
Modeling and characterization of TES-based detectors for the Ricochet experiment
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENS) offers a valuable
approach in searching for physics beyond the Standard Model. The Ricochet
experiment aims to perform a precision measurement of the CENS spectrum at
the Institut Laue-Langevin nuclear reactor with cryogenic solid-state
detectors. The experiment plans to employ an array of cryogenic thermal
detectors, each with a mass around 30 g and an energy threshold of sub-100 eV.
The array includes nine detectors read out by Transition-Edge Sensors (TES).
These TES based detectors will also serve as demonstrators for future neutrino
experiments with thousands of detectors. In this article we present an update
in the characterization and modeling of a prototype TES detector.Comment: Submitted to LTD20 proceedin
Applying Superfluid Helium to Light Dark Matter Searches: Demonstration of the HeRALD Detector Concept
The SPICE/HeRALD collaboration is performing R&D to enable studies of sub-GeV
dark matter models using a variety of target materials. Here we report our
recent progress on instrumenting a superfluid He target mass with a
transition-edge sensor based calorimeter to detect both atomic signals (e.g.
scintillation) and He quasiparticle (phonon and roton) excitations. The
sensitivity of HeRALD to the critical "quantum evaporation" signal from He
quasiparticles requires us to block the superfluid film flow to the
calorimeter. We have developed a heat-free film-blocking method employing an
unoxidized Cs film, which we implemented in a prototype "HeRALD v0.1" detector
of 10~g target mass. This article reports initial studies of the atomic
and quasiparticle signal channels. A key result of this work is the measurement
of the quantum evaporation channel's gain of , which will
enable He-based dark matter experiments in the near term. With this gain
the HeRALD detector reported here has an energy threshold of 145~eV at 5 sigma,
which would be sensitive to dark matter masses down to 220~MeV/c.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
A Stress Induced Source of Phonon Bursts and Quasiparticle Poisoning
The performance of superconducting qubits is degraded by a poorly
characterized set of energy sources breaking the Cooper pairs responsible for
superconductivity, creating a condition often called "quasiparticle poisoning."
Recently, a superconductor with one of the lowest average quasiparticle
densities ever measured exhibited quasiparticles primarily produced in bursts
which decreased in rate with time after cooldown. Similarly, several cryogenic
calorimeters used to search for dark matter have also observed an unknown
source of low-energy phonon bursts that decrease in rate with time after
cooldown. Here, we show that a silicon crystal glued to its holder exhibits a
rate of low-energy phonon events that is more than two orders of magnitude
larger than in a functionally identical crystal suspended from its holder in a
low-stress state. The excess phonon event rate in the glued crystal decreases
with time since cooldown, consistent with a source of phonon bursts which
contributes to quasiparticle poisoning in quantum circuits and the low-energy
events observed in cryogenic calorimeters. We argue that relaxation of
thermally induced stress between the glue and crystal is the source of these
events, and conclude that stress relaxation contributes to quasiparticle
poisoning in superconducting qubits and the athermal phonon background in a
broad class of rare-event searches.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. W. A. Page and R. K. Romani contributed equally
to this work. Correspondence should be addressed to R. K. Roman
First demonstration of 30 eVee ionization energy resolution with Ricochet germanium cryogenic bolometers
The future Ricochet experiment aims to search for new physics in the
electroweak sector by measuring the Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus
Scattering process from reactor antineutrinos with high precision down to the
sub-100 eV nuclear recoil energy range. While the Ricochet collaboration is
currently building the experimental setup at the reactor site, it is also
finalizing the cryogenic detector arrays that will be integrated into the
cryostat at the Institut Laue Langevin in early 2024. In this paper, we report
on recent progress from the Ge cryogenic detector technology, called the
CryoCube. More specifically, we present the first demonstration of a 30~eVee
(electron equivalent) baseline ionization resolution (RMS) achieved with an
early design of the detector assembly and its dedicated High Electron Mobility
Transistor (HEMT) based front-end electronics. This represents an order of
magnitude improvement over the best ionization resolutions obtained on similar
heat-and-ionization germanium cryogenic detectors from the EDELWEISS and
SuperCDMS dark matter experiments, and a factor of three improvement compared
to the first fully-cryogenic HEMT-based preamplifier coupled to a CDMS-II
germanium detector. Additionally, we discuss the implications of these results
in the context of the future Ricochet experiment and its expected background
mitigation performance.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Fast neutron background characterization of the future Ricochet experiment at the ILL research nuclear reactor
The future Ricochet experiment aims at searching for new physics in the
electroweak sector by providing a high precision measurement of the Coherent
Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CENNS) process down to the sub-100 eV
nuclear recoil energy range. The experiment will deploy a kg-scale
low-energy-threshold detector array combining Ge and Zn target crystals 8.8
meters away from the 58 MW research nuclear reactor core of the Institut Laue
Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France. Currently, the Ricochet collaboration is
characterizing the backgrounds at its future experimental site in order to
optimize the experiment's shielding design. The most threatening background
component, which cannot be actively rejected by particle identification,
consists of keV-scale neutron-induced nuclear recoils. These initial fast
neutrons are generated by the reactor core and surrounding experiments
(reactogenics), and by the cosmic rays producing primary neutrons and
muon-induced neutrons in the surrounding materials. In this paper, we present
the Ricochet neutron background characterization using He proportional
counters which exhibit a high sensitivity to thermal, epithermal and fast
neutrons. We compare these measurements to the Ricochet Geant4 simulations to
validate our reactogenic and cosmogenic neutron background estimations.
Eventually, we present our estimated neutron background for the future Ricochet
experiment and the resulting CENNS detection significance.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering: Terrestrial and astrophysical applications
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENS) is a process in which neutrinos scatter on a nucleus which acts as a single particle. Though the total cross section is large by neutrino standards, CENS has long proven difficult to detect, since the deposited energy into the nucleus is keV. In 2017, the COHERENT collaboration announced the detection of CENS using a stopped-pion source with CsI detectors, followed up the detection of CENS using an Ar target. The detection of CENS has spawned a flurry of activities in high-energy physics, inspiring new constraints on beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics, and new experimental methods. The CENS process has important implications for not only high-energy physics, but also astrophysics, nuclear physics, and beyond. This whitepaper discusses the scientific importance of CENS, highlighting how present experiments such as COHERENT are informing theory, and also how future experiments will provide a wealth of information across the aforementioned fields of physics
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering: Terrestrial and astrophysical applications
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENS) is a process inwhich neutrinos scatter on a nucleus which acts as a single particle. Thoughthe total cross section is large by neutrino standards, CENS has longproven difficult to detect, since the deposited energy into the nucleus is keV. In 2017, the COHERENT collaboration announced the detection ofCENS using a stopped-pion source with CsI detectors, followed up thedetection of CENS using an Ar target. The detection of CENS hasspawned a flurry of activities in high-energy physics, inspiring newconstraints on beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics, and new experimentalmethods. The CENS process has important implications for not onlyhigh-energy physics, but also astrophysics, nuclear physics, and beyond. Thiswhitepaper discusses the scientific importance of CENS, highlighting howpresent experiments such as COHERENT are informing theory, and also how futureexperiments will provide a wealth of information across the aforementionedfields of physics.<br
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