Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this paper we present the first measurement of a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystal as a scintillating calorimeter with dual heat and light readout within the DAREDEVIL project. The experimental setup features a 4.3 g GaAs ( GaAs-1) crystal, operated at approximately 10 mK coupled with a Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) thermal sensor for phonon detection and an auxiliary calorimeter for the detection of scintillation light. For the GaAs-1 crystal, a baseline resolution of 121 ± 2 eV has been achieved. While, with a 3.5 g GaAs (GaAs-2) crystal an even better baseline resolution of 44.5 ± 0.8 eV was achieved. Alpha and X-ray calibration sources were used to study the scintillation light response to different types of interacting radiation. The GaAs crystal exhibits a strong particle discrimination capability based on the emitted scintillation light, featuring a light yield (LY) of 0.9 ± 0.2 keV/MeV for $$\alpha $$ α induced events and 0.07 ± 0.01 keV/MeV for $$\beta $$ β / $$\gamma $$ γ events, both measured at 1 MeV. The unusual luminescence behavior, i.e. more light being produced under irradiation by $$\alpha $$ α particles warrants further investigation, particularly due to its potential to enhance sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils from light dark matter scattering.
Source: The European Physical Journal C
Authors: A. Melchiorre, D. L. Helis, A. Puiu, G. Benato, P. Carniti, I. Colantoni, A. Continenza, N. Di Marco, A. Ferella, C. Ferrari, F. Giannessi, C. Gotti, E. Monticone, S. Nagorny, E. Olivieri, L. Pagnanini, G. Pessina, C. Petrucci, S. Pirro, A. Prajapati, G. Profeta, M. Rajteri, P. Settembri, A. Shaikina, C. Tresca, D. Trotta
Institutions: University of L'Aquila, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Gran Sasso Science Institute, University of Milano-Bicocca, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I, Sapienza University of Rome, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie
Language: English
Subfield: Radiation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7109008875