Low-Temperature Scintillation for Rare-Event Searches

对于罕见事件，比如可能构成宇宙中大部分物质的暗物质粒子的相互作用，科学家们很难在放射性背景的干草堆中识别出微小的信号。背景抑制探测器技术的改进推动了进展。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，我们已经建立了一个独特的有效的测试床，以测量闪烁低至4 K。我们将研究纯的和掺杂的碘化钠，与原型的背景拒绝闪烁声子探测器的目标。例如，在SNOLAB未来的实验中部署，他们可以验证长期存在但有争议的DAMA暗物质声明，该声明基于仅限反褶曲的设备。我们还将研究其他无机闪烁体，如CsI和ZnWO4，它们可能用于暗物质搜索，如CRESST，以及像ZnMoO4这样的双β衰变材料。

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.