SuperCDMS: Energy Calibration of a Ge HV Particle Detector

Authors

Salamong Xiong, Macalester CollegeFollow
Vuk Mandic, University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFollow
Matthew Fritts, University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFollow
Nicholas Mast, University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFollow
Jacob Nelson, University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFollow

Abstract

The goal of the SuperCDMS collaboration is to directly detect dark matter. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are potential candidates. To detect WIMPs, it is important to be able to predict how a Ge/Si particle detector will respond to a dark matter signal. In particular, it is necessary to calibrate the recoil energy measured by these detectors. This paper presents evidence for dark matter, a description of the detector operation, and procedures used to analyze measured data from a SuperCDMS-HV Ge particle detector using Am-241 and a PuBe neutron source. Due to high event rate, criteria were developed to remove low-quality data arising from particle interactions that occur too soon after a previous interaction. Peaks in histograms of pulse amplitudes were identified as energy peaks from the various radioactive sources, and fits of these peaks formed the basis for generating an energy calibration function. The calibration function was used to generate the calibrated energy spectrum.

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Recommended Citation

Xiong, Salamong; Mandic, Vuk; Fritts, Matthew; Mast, Nicholas; and Nelson, Jacob (2020) "SuperCDMS: Energy Calibration of a Ge HV Particle Detector," Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 18.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/mjpa/vol8/iss1/18