A dark matter detector based on the simultaneous measurement of phonons and ionization at 20 mK

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1425600· OSTI ID:1425600

Shutt, Thomas Alan ^[1]

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1. UC, Berkeley

One of the most important issues in astrophysics and cosmology is understanding the nature of dark matter. One possibility is that it is made of weakly interacting subatomic particles created in the big bang, such as the lightest particle in supersymmetry models. These particles should scatter elastically of nuclei in a detector on earth at a rate of ~events/kg/week, and will deposit energies of a few keV. Current attempts to detect these interactions are limited by a radioactive background of photons and beta particles which scatter on electrons. We have developed a novel particle detector to look for dark matter based on the simultaneous measurement of ionization and phonons in a 60 g crystal of high purity germanium at a temperature of 20 mK. Background events can be distinguished by our detector because they produce more ionization per unit phonon energy than dark matter interactions. The phonon energy is measured as a temperature change in the detector by means of neutron transmutation doped germanium thermistors attached to the crystal. The ionization measurement is accomplished by applying a bias to implanted contacts on the faces of the disk. Charge collection differs from the normal situation at 77 K in that no thermally generated free charge exists in the crystal at 20 mK. The collection efficiency is good with an electric field of only ~0.2 V/cm after the charged impurities in the crystal have been neutralized by free charge created by particle interactions from a radioactive source. For fields below this charge collection is poor, and affects the amount of phonon energy measured. We have modeled this in terms of charge trapping. The r.m.s resolution of the detector is 800 eV in phonons and 600 eV in ionization. We have tested the background rejection capability of the detector by exposing it to neutrons from a 251Cf source which scatter elastically on nuclei. The neutrons are distinguished at energies of a few keV, and the current background rejection power is at least 10:1.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1425600
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-THESIS-1993-28; UMI-94-08117; 365007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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