Engineering topics

Cervantes-Vergara, Brenda A.

Publications and source records attributed to Cervantes-Vergara, Brenda A..

7 records

DOE OSTI2025

Search for Reactor-Produced Millicharged Particles with Skipper-CCDs at the CONNIE and Atucha-II Experiments

Millicharged particles, proposed by various extensions of the standard model, can be created in pairs by high-energy photons within nuclear reactors and can interact electromagnetically with electrons in matter. Recently, the existence of a plasmon peak in the interaction cross section with silicon in the eV range was highlighted as a promising approach to enhance low-energy sensitivities. The CONNIE and Atucha-II reactor neutrino experiments utilize Skipper-CCD sensors, which enable the detection of interactions in the eV range. We present world-leading limits on the charge of millicharged particles within a mass range spanning 6 orders of magnitude, derived through a comprehensive analysis and the combination of data from both experiments. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2024

Sixteen multiple-amplifier sensing charge-coupled devices and characterization techniques targeting the next generation of astronomical instruments

We present a candidate sensor for future spectroscopic applications, such as a Stage-5 Spectroscopic Survey Experiment or the Habitable Worlds Observatory. This type of charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor features multiple in-line amplifiers at its output stage allowing multiple measurements of the same charge packet, either in each amplifier or in the different amplifiers. Recently, the operation of an eight-amplifier sensor has been experimentally demonstrated, and we present the operation of a 16-amplifier sensor. This new sensor enables a noise level of ∼1 erms− with a single sample per amplifier. In addition, it is shown that sub-electron noise can be achieved using multiple samples per amplifier. In addition to demonstrating the performance of the 16-amplifier sensor, we aim to create a framework for future analysis and performance optimization of this type of detectors. New models and techniques are presented to characterize specific parameters, which are absent in conventional CCDs and Skipper CCDs: charge transfer between amplifiers and independent and common noise in the amplifiers and their processing.

16 multiple-amplifer sensing CCD (MAS-CCD)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Readout optimization of multi-amplifier sensing charge-coupled devices for single-quantum measurement

The non-destructive readout capability of the Skipper Charge Coupled Device (CCD) has been demonstrated to reduce the noise limitation of conventional silicon devices to levels that allow single-photon or single-electron counting. The noise reduction is achieved by taking multiple measurements of the charge in each pixel. These multiple measurements come at the cost of extra readout time, which has been a limitation for the broader adoption of this technology in particle physics, quantum imaging, and astronomy applications. This work presents recent results of a novel sensor architecture that uses multiple non-destructive floating-gate amplifiers in series to achieve sub-electron readout noise in a thick, fully-depleted silicon detector to overcome the readout time overhead of the Skipper-CCD. This sensor is called the Multiple-Amplifier Sensing Charge-Coupled Device (MAS-CCD) can perform multiple independent charge measurements with each amplifier, and the measurements from multiple amplifiers can be combined to further reduce the readout noise. We will show results obtained for sensors with 8 and 16 amplifiers per readout stage in new readout operations modes to optimize its readout speed. The noise reduction capability of the new techniques will be demonstrated in terms of its ability to reduce the noise by combining the information from the different amplifiers, and to resolve signals in the order of a single photon per pixel. The first readout operation explored here avoids the extra readout time needed in the MAS-CCD to read a line of the sensor associated with the extra extent of the serial register. The second technique explore the capability of the MAS-CCD device to perform a region of interest readout increasing the number of multiple samples per amplifier in a targeted region of the active area of the device.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Search by the SENSEI Experiment for Millicharged Particles Produced in the NuMI Beam

Millicharged particles appear in several extensions of the standard model, but have not yet been detected. These hypothetical particles could be produced by an intense proton beam striking a fixed target. We use data collected in 2020 by the SENSEI experiment in the MINOS cavern at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to search for ultrarelativistic millicharged particles produced in collisions of protons in the NuMI beam with a fixed graphite target. The absence of any ionization events with 3 to 6 electrons in the SENSEI data allow us to place world-leading constraints on millicharged particles for masses between 30 to 380 MeV. This work also demonstrates the potential of utilizing low-threshold detectors to investigate new particles in beam-dump experiments, and motivates a future experiment designed specifically for this purpose. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2024

Searching for millicharged particles with 1 kg of Skipper-CCDs using the NuMI beam at Fermilab

Oscura is a planned light-dark matter search experiment using Skipper-CCDs with a total active mass of 10 kg. As part of the detector development, the collaboration plans to build the Oscura Integration Test (OIT), an engineering test with 10% of the total mass. Here we discuss the early science opportunities with the OIT to search for millicharged particles (mCPs) using the NuMI beam at Fermilab. mCPs would be produced at low energies through photon-mediated processes from decays of scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector mesons, or direct Drell-Yan productions. Estimates show that the OIT would be a world-leading probe for mCPs in the ~MeV mass range.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2023

Skipper-CCD sensors for the Oscura experiment: requirements and preliminary tests

Oscura is a proposed multi-kg skipper-CCD experiment designed for a dark matter (DM) direct detection search that will reach unprecedented sensitivity to sub-GeV DM-electron interactions with its 10 kg detector array. Oscura is planning to operate at SNOLAB with 2070 m overburden, and aims to reach a background goal of less than one event in each electron bin in the 2–10 electron ionization-signal region for the full 30 kg-year exposure, with a radiation background rate of 0.01 dru.[1 dru (differential rate unit) corresponds to 1 event/kg/day/keV.] In order to achieve this goal, Oscura must address each potential source of background events, including instrumental backgrounds. In this work, we discuss the main instrumental background sources and the strategy to control them, establishing a set of constraints on the sensors' performance parameters. We present results from the tests of the first fabricated Oscura prototype sensors, evaluate their performance in the context of the established constraints and estimate the Oscura instrumental background based on these results.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2023

Fast Single-Quantum Measurement with a Multi-Amplifier Sensing Charge-Coupled Device

A novel readout architecture that uses multiple non-destructive floating-gate amplifiers to achieve sub-electron readout noise in a thick, fully-depleted silicon detector is presented. This Multi-Amplifier Sensing Charge-Coupled Device (MAS-CCD) can perform multiple independent charge measurements with each amplifier; measurements with multiple amplifiers can then be combined to further reduce the readout noise. The readout speed of this detector scales roughly linearly with the number of amplifiers without requiring segmentation of the active area. The performance of this detector is demonstrated, emphasizing the ability to resolve individual quanta and the ability to combine measurements across amplifiers to reduce readout noise. The unprecedented low noise and fast readout of the MAS-CCD make it a unique technology for astronomical observations, quantum imaging, and low-energy interacting particles.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗