Focusing Optics for Axion Detection: Simulating Sensing Enhancements of Photons in InfraBREAD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
The Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection (BREAD) will search for axions, a promising particle candidate for dark matter, in the high mass range of [$$10^{-3}$$,1]eV. BREAD acts like a telescope for dark matter, using a parabolic reflector to direct axion-induced photons onto a precise focal spot. InfraBREAD is the experimental version designed to detect photons resulting from axions with infrared frequency using a 1mm × 1mm Superconducting Nanowire Singe Photon Detector (SNSPD). However, at this frequency scale two problems arise: 1) the focal spot becomes smeared across an area larger than the size of the SNSPD detector; 2) any millimeter-scale misalignment shifts in the SNSPD can greatly diminish photon signal. This study performed simulations of novel optical configurations of lenses and reflectors placed around the SNSPD to achieve a greater efficiency than the SNSPD alone through both of these effects. One optical setup was identified called the “Parabolo id to Winston Cone (PTW) Configuration,” which exploits the optics of parabolic reflectors to focus incoming photons from the larger area of the smeared focal spot onto the smaller 1mm2 area of the detector. The PTW configuration demonstrated overall improvements in efficiency by around 10% through misalignment shifts, with a maximal improvement of 55% in one region.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- Contributing Organization:
- BREAD
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 2377355
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-FN--1247-PPD-STUDENT; oai:inspirehep.net:2799199
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Refinement and Modeling of a Blackbody-Based Calibration Method in the InfraBREAD Detector
Modeling and Proof-of-Concept of a Blackbody-Based Calibration Method in the InfraBREAD Detector