Scintillation detectors with silicon photomultiplier readout in a dilution refrigerator at temperatures down to 0.2 K

Abstract

We are developing a novel high-brightness atomic beam, comprised of a two-body exotic atom called muonium (M $={\mu }^{+}+e^{-}$), for next-generation atomic physics and gravitational interaction measurements. This M source originates from a thin sheet of superfluid helium (SFHe), hence diagnostics and later measurements require a detection system which is operational in a dilution cryostat at temperatures below 1 K. In this paper, we describe the operation and characterization of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) at ultra-low temperatures in SFHe targets. We show the temperature dependence of the signal shape, breakdown voltage, and single photon detection efficiency, concluding that single photon detection with SiPMs below 0.85 K is feasible. Furthermore, we show the development of segmented scintillation detectors, where 16 channels at 1.7 K and one channel at 170 mK were commissioned using a muon beam.

References in corpus (3)

• DARWIN: towards the ultimate dark matter detector
• Characterization of the Hamamatsu VUV4 MPPCs for nEXO
• Segmented scintillation detectors with silicon photomultiplier readout for measuring antiproton annihilations

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Performance of novel VUV-sensitive Silicon Photo-Multipliers for nEXO
• ALETHEIA: Hunting for Low-mass Dark Matter with Liquid Helium TPCs
• Characterization of FBK NUV-HD-Cryo SiPMs near LHe temperature
• Characterisation of silicon photomultipliers in a dilution refrigerator down to 9.4 mK towards a cryogenic cosmic-ray muon veto system