Low-Temperature Scintillation for Rare-Event Searches

寻找罕见的事件，比如暗物质粒子的相互作用，可能构成宇宙中的大部分物质，很难在堆积如山的放射性背景中识别出微小的信号。背景抑制探测器技术的进步推动了这一进展。一种适用于许多靶核的有前途的技术是在低温下测量闪烁和声子。为了开发这样的探测器，我们建立了一个唯一有效的测试台来测量低至4K的闪烁。我们将研究纯NaI和掺杂NaI，目标是制作出背景抑制闪烁声子探测器的原型。例如，在SNOLAB未来的一次实验中部署，它们可以验证长期存在但有争议的DAMA基于纯闪烁设备的暗物质主张。我们还将研究在暗物质研究中可能有用的其他无机闪烁体，如CSI和ZnWO4，以及对双β衰变感兴趣的材料，如ZnMoO4。

Searches for rare-events, like interactions of the dark matter particles that may make up the bulk of the matter in the Universe, struggle to identify small signals in a haystack of radioactive background. Progress has been driven by improvements in background-rejecting detector technology. One promising technology applicable to many target nuclei is the measurement of scintillation and phonons at cryogenic temperatures. To develop such detectors, we have set up a uniquely efficient test bed to measure scintillation down to 4 K. We will study pure and doped NaI, with the goal of prototyping background-rejecting scintillation-phonon detectors. Deployed in a future experiment at SNOLAB for instance, they could verify the longstanding but controversial DAMA dark matter claim based on scintillation-only devices. We will also investigate other inorganic scintillators like CsI and ZnWO4 that may be of use in dark matter searches such as CRESST, as well as materials like ZnMoO4 of interest for double beta decay.