Application of metallic magnetic calorimeter in rare event search

作者:Kim I; Jo H S*; Kang C S; Kim G B; Kim H L; Kim S R; Kim Y H*; Lee H J; Lee J H; Lee M K; Oh S Y; So J H
来源:Superconductor Science and Technology, 2017, 30(9): 1-9.
DOI:10.1088/1361-6668/aa7c73

摘要

Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) are highly sensitive temperature sensors that use the paramagnetic nature of erbium in a metallic host and superconducting electronics usually composed of a superconducting niobium coil and a current sensing superconducting quantum interference device. This article discusses the applicability of MMCs in experimental searches for rare events in particle physics. A detector module using two MMCs was built to perform low-temperature measurements of heat and scintillation light generated by particle interaction in a 340 g (CaMoO4)-Ca-40-Mo-100 crystal. The energy transfer mechanism, from incident particles to the components of the heat and light sensors, is described through a thermal model. MMCs, with gold films collecting athermal phonons, can be used over wide ranges of operating temperature and crystal volume without a significant change in detector performances. Rare event searches could thus benefit from MMC-based detectors presenting such flexibility as well as excellent energy resolution and particle discrimination power.

  • 出版日期2017-9