Performance of scintillation materials at cryogenic temperatures

Abstract

An increasing number of applications of scintillators at low temperatures, particularly in cryogenic experiments searching for rare events, has motivated the investigation of scintillation properties of materials over a wide temperature range. This paper provides an overview of the latest results on the study of luminescence, absorption and scintillation properties of materials selected for rare event searches so far. These include CaWO4, ZnWO4, CdWO4, MgWO4, CaMoO4, CdMoO4, Bi4Ge3O12, CaF2, MgF2, ZnSe and AL2O3-Ti. We discuss the progress achieved in research and development of these scintillators, both in material preparation and in the understanding of scintillation mechanisms, as well as the underlying physics. To understand the origin of the performance limitation of self-activated scintillators we employed a semi-empirical model of conversion of high energy radiation into light and made appropriate provision for effects of temperature and energy transfer. We conclude that the low-temperature value of the light yield of some modern scintillators, namely CaWO4, CdWO4 and Bi4Ge3O12, is close to the theoretical limit. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of different materials with emphasis on their application as cryogenic phonon-scintillation detectors (CPSD) in rare event search experiments.

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• Studies of scintillation properties of CaMoO4 at millikelvin temperatures
• Optical and structural study of the pressure-induced phase transition of CdWO${}_4$
• A CsI low temperature detector for dark matter search
• Optimization of light collection from crystal scintillators for cryogenic experiments
• Non-contact luminescence lifetime cryothermometry for macromolecular crystallography
• Study of $\mathrm{CdMo}{\mathrm{O}}_4$ crystal for a neutrinoless double beta decay experiment with ${}^{116}\mathrm{Cd}$ and ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}$ nuclides
• Pulse Shape Analysis with scintillating bolometers
• Particle detection at cryogenic temperatures with undoped CsI
• Growth and development of pure Li2MoO4 crystals for rare event experiment at CUP
• A flexible scintillation light apparatus for rare event searches
• Application of the Monte-Carlo refractive index matching (MCRIM) technique to the determination of the absolute light yield of a calcium molybdate scintillator
• In-situ study of light production and transport in phonon/light detector modules for dark matter search
• First measurement of surface nuclear recoil background for argon dark matter searches
• Characterization of single layer anti-reflective coatings for bolometer-based rare event searches
• Cryogenic phonon-scintillation detectors with PMT readout for rare event search experiments
• A quantum model of charge capture and release onto/from deep traps
• Investigation of the cryogenic scintillation of pure and doped sodium-iodine
• Counting photons at low temperature with a streaming time-to-digital converter
• Surface background rejection technique for liquid argon dark matter detectors using a thin scintillating layer