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Title: Position and energy-resolved particle detection using phonon-mediated microwave kinetic inductance detectors

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4726279· OSTI ID:22025588
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  1. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)
  2. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 (United States)

We demonstrate position and energy-resolved phonon-mediated detection of particle interactions in a silicon substrate instrumented with an array of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs). The relative magnitude and delay of the signal received in each sensor allow the location of the interaction to be determined with < or approx. 1mm resolution at 30 keV. Using this position information, variations in the detector response with position can be removed, and an energy resolution of {sigma}{sub E} = 0.55 keV at 30 keV was measured. Since MKIDs can be fabricated from a single deposited film and are naturally multiplexed in the frequency domain, this technology can be extended to provide highly pixelized athermal phonon sensors for {approx}1 kg scale detector elements. Such high-resolution, massive particle detectors would be applicable to rare-event searches such as the direct detection of dark matter, neutrinoless double-beta decay, or coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering.

OSTI ID:
22025588
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 23; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English