A calorimetric particle detector using an iridium superconducting phase transition thermometer

We report on a calorimetric particles detector consisting of an 18.3 g silicon crystal and an iridium superconducting phase transition thermometer. The cryogenic calorimeter and the associated apparatus are described in detail. The pulses from irradiation with an #alpha#-particle source have a large unexpected overshoot in addition to the component expected from a naive thermal model. The pulse height spectrum displays an energy resolution of 1 percent FWHM at 6 MeV and good linearity. The noise, electrothermal feedback, and position dependence are discussed. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 2916(94-01) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Proposal to the Gran Sasso Laboratory for a dark matter search using cryogenic detectors

We request space and support from the Gran Sasso Laboratory for an experiment searching for dark matter WIMPs using cryogenic detectors. Our experiment is complementary to other dark matter searches in that it extends the sensitivity for WIMPs to the mass range below 10 GeV and that different target materials can be used within the same setup. The proposed experiment uses in the first stage a detector consisting of 1 kg of sapphire with a threshold of 0.5 keV and a resolution of 0.2 keV at 1 keV. The detector would be run at a temperature of 15-30 mK within a low-background setup. The first stage could be installed in 1995. The proposed setup allows for future expansion of the detector to 10-100 kg without major changes. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 2916(93-29) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Model for cryogenic particle detectors with superconducting phase transition thermometers

We present data on a detector composed of an 18 g Si crystal and a superconducting phase transition thermometer which could be operated over a wide temperature range. An energy resolution of 1 keV (FWHM) has been obtained for 60 keV photons. The signals consist of two components: A fast one and a slow one, with decay times of 1.5 ms and 30-60 ms, respectively. In this paper we present a simple model which takes thermal and non-thermal phonon processes into account and provides a description of the observed temperature dependence of the pulse shape. The fast component, which completely dominates the signal at low temperatures, is due to high-frequency non-thermal phonons being absorbed in the thermometer. Thermalization of these phonons then leads to a temperature rise of the absorber, which causes the slow thermal component. At the highest operating temperatures (T#approx#80 mK) the amplitude of the slow component is roughly as expected from the heat capacity of the absorber. The strong suppression of the slow component at low temperatures is explained mostly as a consequence of the weak thermal coupling between electrons and phonons in the thermometer at low temperatures. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 2916(94-14) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Cryogenic detector development

Available from FIZ Karlsruhe / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Munich cryogenic detector development 1995

At the Technical University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Physics we are developing cryogenic detectors for the detection of small deposited energies, for example from the elastic scattering of WIMP dark matter particles, or the absorption of X-rays. Together with the University of Oxford and the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso we are preparing the CRESST experiment which uses our detectors to search for WIMP dark matter. This preprint contains reports of our work which we have presented at the Sixth International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD-6) in Beatenburg/Interlaken, Switzerland, 28 Aug.-1 Sept. 1995. This work has been supported in part by the ''Sonderforschungsbereich 375 fuer Astroteilchenphysik'' and the EU ERBCHRXCT930341 Network on Cryogenic Detectors. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RR 2916(95-15) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

TUM-MPI cryogenic detector development 1992

SIGLEAvailable from FIZ Karlsruhe / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

The CRESST dark matter search proposal to the Gran Sasso Laboratory

We discuss the short and long term perspectives of the CRESST (cryogenic rare event search using superconducting thermometers) project and present the current status of the experiment and new results concerning detector development. In the search for elementary particle dark matter, CRESST is presently the most advanced deep underground, low background, cryogenic facility able to house up to about 100 kg of target mass. The basic technique involved is to search for WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles) by the measurement of non-thermal phonons, as created by WIMP-induced nuclear recoils. When this technique is combined with our newly developed method for the simultaneous measurement of scintillation light, strong background discrimination is possible, resulting in a substantial increase in WIMP detection sensitivity. In contrast to other projects, CRESST technology allows the employment of a large variety of detection materials. This offers a powerful tool in establishing a WIMP signal and in investigating WIMP properties in the event of a positive signal. In addition it is useful in the understanding of background. Short term plans include the continuation of our current measurements with sapphire crystals for the detection of light WIMPs. The new scintillating detectors, based on CaWO_4, will be especially sensitive to medium and high mass WIMPs, and will allow a test of the reported positive evidence for a WIMP signal by the DAMA collaboration in the near future. In the long term, the present CRESST set-up permits the installation of a detector mass up to 100 kg and so can compete favourably with other large volume dark matter search proposals. (orig.)21 refs.SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RA 2316(98-22) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman