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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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DOE OSTI2025

The KIPM Detector Consortium

Kinetic Inductance Phonon-Mediated (KIPM) Detectors, microcalorimeters that leverage kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) to read out phonon signals from the device substrate, are an attractive architecture for low-threshold rare-event searches due to their large response to small changes in quasiparticle density and native multiplexability, enabling scalability. We have established a consortium comprising university and national lab groups dedicated to advancing the state-of-the-art in these detectors, with the ultimate goal of designing a detector with a kg-scale target mass and sub-eV threshold on energy deposited in the substrate, enabling searches for both light dark matter and low-energy neutrino interactions. This consortium brings together experts in KID design, phonon and quasiparticle dynamics, and noise modeling, along with specialized fabrication facilities, test platforms, and unique calibration capabilities. Recently, our consortium has demonstrated a sensor resolution (i.e., resolution in the quasiparticle channel) of 2.1 eV, the current record for such devices. The current focus of the consortium is modeling and improving the phonon collection efficiency and implementing low-Tc superconductors, both of which serve to improve the overall energy resolution and threshold of the detectors. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the consortium and its capabilities, highlight some recent results from its member groups, and discuss near term plans toward reaching the ultimate goal.

Temples, Dylan J. [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2021

Search for Lightly Ionizing Particles in SuperCDMS and simulation of neutron backgrounds

The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) is a direct-detection dark matter search experiment that primarily aims to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) using state-of-the-art solid-state detection technology. During its operation at the Soudan underground laboratory, germanium detectors were operated with high bias voltage mode known as the CDMS low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite) to achieve below-keV thresholds. CDMSlite, for being able to measure small energy depositions in detectors, also provides sensitivity to Lightly Ionizing Particles (LIPs) with very small fractional charges. This thesis will discuss an analysis to search LIPs with the data acquired in CDMSlite mode. An important component for LIPs search is the expected energy-deposition distributions for LIPs falling on the CDMSlite detector. In this thesis, a simulation framework to calculate the energy-deposition distributions is developed. This thesis presents first direct-detection limits on the intensity of cosmogenic LIPs with electric charges smaller than e /(3 × 10 5 ) as well as the strongest limits for charges ≤ e /160, with a minimum intensity of 1.36 × 10 -7 cm -2 s -1 sr -1 at charge e /160.In any rare-event search experiment, understanding background is crucial. Neutrons capable of mimicking dark matter signals are a major background for any dark matter search experiment. A simulation study to estimate the neutron background for an India based dark matter search experiment at Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory (JUSL) is performed. The experiment at JUSL will be the first phase of a proposed Dark matter search at India-based Neutrino Observatory (DINO). It will be a direct detection experiment with primary aims to search for WIMPs as dark matter candidates. In this thesis, we discuss the methodology of estimating neutron flux at JUSL and report the results. The total neutron flux reaching the laboratory above 1 MeV energy threshold is found to be 5.76(±0.69) × 10 -6 cm -2 s -1 . The impact of neutron background on the sensitivity of the experiment to detect dark matter at JUSL is also discussed. The thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the Lightly Ionizing Particle (LIPs). The analysis to search LIPs in SuperCDMS is briefly outlined in the chapter. This chapter also discusses the importance of neutron background estimates in a dark matter search experiment, more specifically, in the context of a proposed India-based dark matter search experiment at Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory. In Chapter 2, the SuperCDMS experiment is introduced. In Chapter 3, the framework developed to perform simulations for Lightly Ionizing Particles is presented. In Chapter 4, the LIPs search analysis with the CDMSlite data and the results are discussed. In Chapter 5, the simulation of neutron background and the feasibility of dark-matter search at JUSL is discussed. Finally, conclusions from all the results discussed in this thesis are presented in Chapter 6.

Banik, Samir↗
DOE OSTI2022

Search for lightly ionizing particles in superCDMS and simulation of neutron backgrounds

The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) is a direct-detection dark matter search experiment that primarily aims to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) using state-of-the-art solid-state detection technology. During its operation at the Soudan underground laboratory, germanium detectors were operated with high bias voltage mode known as the CDMS low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite) to achieve below-keV thresholds. CDMSlite, for being able to measure small energy depositions in detectors, also provides sensitivity to Lightly Ionizing Particles (LIPs) with very small fractional charges. This thesis will discuss an analysis to search LIPs with the data acquired in CDMSlite mode. An important component for LIPs search is the expected energy-deposition distributions for LIPs falling on the CDMSlite detector. In this thesis, a simulation framework to calculate the energy-deposition distributions is developed. This thesis presents first direct-detection limits on the intensity of cosmogenic LIPs with electric charges smaller than e/(3 × 105) as well as the strongest limits for charges ≤ e/160, with a minimum intensity of 1.36 × 10-7 cm-2s-1sr-1 at charge e/160.In any rare-event search experiment, understanding background is crucial. Neutrons capable of mimicking dark matter signals are a major background for any dark matter search experiment. A simulationmore » study to estimate the neutron background for an India based dark matter search experiment at Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory (JUSL) is performed. The experiment at JUSL will be the first phase of a proposed Dark matter search at India-based Neutrino Observatory (DINO). It will be a direct detection experiment with primary aims to search for WIMPs as dark matter candidates. In this thesis, we discuss the methodology of estimating neutron flux at JUSL and report the results. The total neutron flux reaching the laboratory above 1 MeV energy threshold is found to be 5.76(±0.69) × 10-6 cm-2s-1. The impact of neutron background on the sensitivity of the experiment to detect dark matter at JUSL is also discussed. The thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the Lightly Ionizing Particle (LIPs). The analysis to search LIPs in SuperCDMS is briefly outlined in the chapter. This chapter also discusses the importance of neutron background estimates in a dark matter search experiment, more specifically, in the context of a proposed India-based dark matter search experiment at Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory. In Chapter 2, the SuperCDMS experiment is introduced. In Chapter 3, the framework developed to perform simulations for Lightly Ionizing Particles is presented. In Chapter 4, the LIPs search analysis with the CDMSlite data and the results are discussed. In Chapter 5, the simulation of neutron background and the feasibility of dark-matter search at JUSL is discussed. Finally, conclusions from all the results discussed in this thesis are presented in Chapter 6.« less

Banik, Samir↗
DOE OSTI2021

The effects of low- Z shielding on uranium isotope discrimination using the time-emission profiles of long-lived delayed neutrons

Characteristic radiation signals can often be obscured or distorted by relatively small amounts of shielding, as is the case for highly-enriched uranium (HEU). Methods that can detect and identify special nuclear material (SNM) even in the presence of shielding are therefore of high value in many nuclear security and nonproliferation applications. It has been previously shown that the buildup and decay time profiles of long-lived delayed neutron emission from induced fission are unique and can be used to successfully discriminate between uranium isotopes and infer enrichment without the need for a calibration standard. Because the long-lived delayed neutron precursors exhibit decay times on the order of tens of seconds, their time profiles are not sensitive to the delays associated with scattering or diffusion in shielding materials, which occur on much shorter time scales. The use of capture-based neutron detectors can also mitigate the effects of shielding, because unlike recoil-based detectors, they do not have a low-energy detection threshold, so that neutrons that lose their energy in the shielding are still detectable. In this work, the effects of low-Z shielding on the discrimination of uranium isotopes using delayed neutron time profile measurements are investigated for the first time. Furthermore, the delayed neutron buildup and decay time profiles of polyethylene-shielded HEU and depleted uranium objects are measured using two different capture-gated detector designs. The recorded profiles show good agreement with the shapes predicted from six-group delayed neutron models even with the shielding in place, and the enrichment of the HEU and DU objects was estimated accurately to within 5%. While this method shows potential for discriminating and characterizing extreme cases of enrichment when a moderate amount of shielding is present, simulation results suggest that significant limitations exist for intermediate enrichment levels due to distortions to the delayed neutron time profile caused by neutron reflection in the shielding.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tuning the Superconducting Transition Temperature of Co-sputtered Iridium and Platinum Films

A superconducting film with a tunable low transition temperature (Tc) is required in high-resolution Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) detectors, which have applications including dark matter detection, low threshold coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering measurement, and X-ray spectroscopy. We have been investigating a new approach to tune the Tc of superconducting thin films fabricated by co-sputtering Iridium and Platinum. The effects of Pt concentration and deposition parameters on the films' structural, electrical, and superconducting properties have been studied. AFM and XRD techniques and low temperature resistance measurements have been utilized for film characterization. By varying the Pt concentration and deposition parameters when co-sputtering, we have successfully achieved controllable tuning of Tc in the range of 30-200 mK. The experimental results demonstrate co-sputtering as a viable method for controlling the Tc of Ir-based thin films that can be applied to fabricating high-resolution TESs.

Yefremenko, V. G.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Low-energy solar neutrino detection utilizing advanced germanium detectors

We explore the possibility to use advanced germanium (Ge) detectors as a low-energy solar neutrino observatory by means of neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering. A Ge detector utilizing internal charge amplification for the charge carriers created by the ionization of impurities is a novel technology with experimental sensitivity for detecting low-energy solar neutrinos. Ge internal charge amplification (GeICA) detectors will amplify the charge carriers induced by neutrino interacting with Ge atoms through the emission of phonons. It is those phonons that will create charge carriers through the ionization of impurities to achieve an extremely low energy threshold of ~0.01 eV. We demonstrate the phonon absorption, excitation, and ionization probability of impurities in a Ge detector with impurity levels of 3 × 10 10 cm -3 , 9 × 10 10 cm -3 , and 2 × 10 11 cm -3 . We present the sensitivity of such a Ge experiment for detecting solar neutrinos in the low-energy region. We show that, if GeICA technology becomes available, then a new opportunity arises to observe pp and 7 Be solar neutrinos. Such a novel detector with only 1 kg of high-purity Ge will give ~10 events per year for pp neutrinos and ~5 events per year for 7 Be neutrinos with a detection energy threshold of 0.01 eV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scaler Rates from the Pierre Auger Observatory: A New Proxy of Solar Activity

The modulation of low-energy galactic cosmic rays reflects interplanetary magnetic field variations and can provide useful information on solar activity. An array of ground-surface detectors can reveal the secondary particles, which originate from the interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere. In this work, we present an investigation of the low-threshold rate (scaler) time series recorded in 16 yr of operation by the Pierre Auger Observatory surface detectors in Malargüe, Argentina. Through an advanced spectral analysis, we detected highly statistically significant variations in the time series with periods ranging from the decadal to the daily scale. We investigate their origin, revealing a direct connection with solar variability. Thanks to their intrinsic very low noise level, the Auger scalers allow a thorough and detailed investigation of the galactic cosmic-ray flux variations in the heliosphere at different timescales and can, therefore, be considered a new proxy of solar variability.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Loosely bound composite dark matter

We investigate loosely bound composite states made of dark matter, where the binding energy for constituent particles is considerably less than the constituent mass. We focus on models of nuclear and molecular dark matter, where constituents are separated by length scales larger than the inverse constituent mass, just like nuclei and atoms in the Standard Model. The cosmology, structure, and interactions at underground experiments are described. We find that loosely bound composites can have a very large cross section for scattering with nuclei that scales with nucleon number like ∼ A 4 . For some couplings, these composites produce extremely soft (≪ keV) individual atomic recoils while depositing a large amount of total recoil energy (≫ keV) in a single passage through a detector, implying an interesting new class of signatures for low threshold direct detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Calibration plan for the SBC 10-kg liquid argon detector with 100 eV target threshold

The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) Collaboration is designing a new generation of low background, noble liquid bubble chamber experiments with sub-keV nuclear recoil threshold. These experiments combine the electronic recoil blindness of a bubble chamber with the energy resolution of noble liquid scintillation, and maintain electron recoil discrimination at higher degrees of superheat (lower nuclear recoil thresholds) than Freon-based bubble chambers. A 10-kg liquid argon bubble chamber has the potential to set world leading limits on the dark matter nucleon cross-section for 𝒪(GeV/c 2 ) masses, and to perform a high statistics coherent elastic neutrino nuclear scattering measurement with reactor neutrinos. This work presents a detailed calibration plan to measure the detector response of these experiments, combining photoneutron scattering with two new techniques to induce sub-keV nuclear recoils: nuclear Thomson scattering and thermal neutron capture.

Dark Matter detectors (WIMPs, axions, etc.)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Sensitivity projections for a dual-phase argon TPC optimized for light dark matter searches through the ionization channel

Dark matter lighter than 10 GeV / c 2 encompasses a promising range of candidates. A conceptual design for a new detector, DarkSide-LowMass, is presented, based on the DarkSide-50 detector and progress toward DarkSide-20k, optimized for a low-threshold electron-counting measurement. Sensitivity to light dark matter is explored for various potential energy thresholds and background rates. These studies show that DarkSide-LowMass can achieve sensitivity to light dark matter down to the solar neutrino fog for GeV-scale masses and significant sensitivity down to 10 MeV / c 2 considering the Migdal effect or interactions with electrons. Requirements for optimizing the detector’s sensitivity are explored, as are potential sensitivity gains from modeling and mitigating spurious electron backgrounds that may dominate the signal at the lowest energies.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Charge-trap analysis in a SENSEI skipper-CCD: Understanding low-energy backgrounds in rare-event searches

Skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are ultralow-threshold detectors capable of detecting energy deposits in silicon at the electronvolt scale. Skipper CCDs are increasingly used in rare-event searches, including experiments such as SENSEI, DAMIC-M, Oscura, and CONNIE, where one of the major challenges is mitigating low-energy backgrounds. In this work, we present results on trap characterization in a silicon skipper-CCD produced in the same fabrication run as the SENSEI experiment at SNOLAB. Lattice defects contribute to backgrounds in rare-event searches through single-electron charge trapping. To investigate this, we use the charge-pumping technique at different temperatures to identify dipoles produced by traps in the CCD channel. We fully characterize a fraction of these traps and use this information to extrapolate their contribution to the single-electron background in SENSEI. We find that this subpopulation of traps does not contribute significantly, but more work is needed to assess the impact of the traps that cannot be characterized.

Brusco, Agustin↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measuring the Multi-Neutron Antineutrino Cross Section at Low Charged Hadron Energy in MINERvA

Current and future accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments need neutrino interaction models with smaller systematic uncertainties to resolve much of delta CP phase space. Final state interactions (FSI) and scattering off of correlated nuclei (2p2h) are poorly understood processes that currently contribute large uncertainties to leading models. These processes have proven difficult to study because they often produce relatively low energy nucleons. Protons up to about 100 MeV are below the detection threshold of some accelerator neutrino detectors, and neutrons are usually discounted as undetectable. This poster presents a measurement of the multi-neutron antineutrino cross section at low available energy using the MINERvA detector at Fermilab. This interaction channel is particularly sensitive to FSI and 2p2h interactions. A sideband-driven background constraint that greatly reduces uncertainties on the result will be presented. The measured cross section is compared to GENIE v3 models with different FSI treatments and the SuSA model's 2p2h predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A hybrid 3D/2D field response calculation for liquid argon detectors with PCB based anode plane

Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) technology is commonly utilized in neutrino detector designs. It enables detailed reconstruction of neutrino events with high spatial precision and low energy threshold. Its field response (FR) model describes the time-dependent electric currents induced in the anode-plane electrodes when ionization electrons drift nearby. An accurate and precise FR is a crucial input to LArTPC detector simulations and charge reconstruction. Established LArTPC designs have been based on parallel wire planes. It allows accurate and computationally economic two-dimensional (2D) FR models utilizing the translational symmetry along the direction of the wires. Recently, novel LArTPC designs utilize electrodes formed on printed circuit board (PCB) in the shape of strips with through holes. The translational symmetry is no longer a good approximation near the electrodes and a new FR calculation that employs regions with three dimensions (3D) has been developed. Extending the 2D models to 3D would be computationally expensive. Fortuitously, the nature of strips with through holes allows for a computationally economic approach based on the finite-difference method (FDM). In this paper, we present a new software package pochoir that calculates LArTPC field response for these new strip-based anode designs. This package combines 3D calculations in the volume near the electrodes with 2D far-field solutions to achieve fast and precise field response computation. We apply the resulting FR to simulate and reconstruct samples of cosmic-ray muons and 39 Ar decays from a Vertical Drift (VD) detector prototype operated at CERN. We find the difference between real and simulated data within 5%. Current state-of-the-art LArTPC software requires a 2D FR which we provide by averaging over one dimension and estimate that variations lost in this average are smaller than 7%.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Recent Neutrino Cross-section Results from MicroBooNE

MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber that operates in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. The detector provides high-resolution imaging of neutrino interactions with a low threshold and full angular coverage. Thanks to a high event rate and several years of continuous operation, the MicroBooNE collaboration has obtained the world’s largest dataset of neutrino-argon scattering events. A detailed understanding of these interactions, especially the impact of nuclear physics effects, will be critical to the success of future precision neutrino oscillation efforts, particularly the argon-based Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program. This talk presents an overview of the latest neutrino-argon cross section measurements in MicroBooNE, including measurements of protons produced in muon neutrino interactions, measurements of the electron neutrino inclusive cross section, and progress towards measurements of rare channels.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Low Threshold Acquisition controller for Skipper CCDs

The development of the Skipper Charge Coupled Devices (Skipper-CCDs) has been a major technological breakthrough for sensing very weak ionizing particles. The sensor allows to reach the ultimate sensitivity of silicon material as a charge signal sensor by unambiguous determination of the charge signal collected by each cell or pixel, even for single electron-hole pair ionization. Extensive use of the technology was limited by the lack of specific equipment to operate the sensor at the ultimate performance. In this work a simple, single-board Skipper-CCD controller is presented, aimed for the operation of the detector in high sensitivity scientific applications. The article describes the main components and functionality of the Low Threshold Acquisition (LTA) together with experimental results when connected to a Skipper-CCD sensor. Measurements show unprecedented deep sub-electron noise of 0.039 e$^-_{rms}$/pix for 5000 pixel measurements.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Identification and reconstruction of low-energy electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector

Measurements of electrons from 𝜈𝑒 interactions are crucial for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) neutrino oscillation program, as well as searches for physics beyond the standard model, supernova neutrino detection, and solar neutrino measurements. This article describes the selection and reconstruction of low-energy (Michel) electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector. ProtoDUNE-SP is one of the prototypes for the DUNE far detector, built and operated at CERN as a charged particle test beam experiment. A sample of low-energy electrons produced by the decay of cosmic muons is selected with a purity of 95%. This sample is used to calibrate the low-energy electron energy scale with two techniques. An electron energy calibration based on a cosmic ray muon sample uses calibration constants derived from measured and simulated cosmic ray muon events. Another calibration technique makes use of the theoretically well-understood Michel electron energy spectrum to convert reconstructed charge to electron energy. In addition, the effects of detector response to low-energy electron energy scale and its resolution including readout electronics threshold effects are quantified. Finally, the relation between the theoretical and reconstructed low-energy electron energy spectra is derived, and the energy resolution is characterized. The low-energy electron selection presented here accounts for about 75% of the total electron deposited energy. After the addition of lost energy using a Monte Carlo simulation, the energy resolution improves from about 40% to 25% at 50 MeV. These results are used to validate the expected capabilities of the DUNE far detector to reconstruct low-energy electrons.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Prospects for Light Dark Matter Searches at Large-Volume Neutrino Detectors

We propose a new approach to search for light dark matter (DM), with keV–GeV mass, via inelastic nucleus scattering at large-volume neutrino detectors such as Borexino, DUNE, Super-K, Hyper-K, and JUNO. The approach uses inelastic nuclear scattering of cosmic-ray boosted DM, enabling a low-background search for DM in these experiments. Large neutrino detectors, with higher thresholds than dark matter detectors, can be used, since the nuclear deexcitation lines are O ( 10 ) MeV . Using a hadrophilic dark-gauge-boson-portal model as a benchmark, we show that the nuclear inelastic channels generally provide better sensitivity than the elastic scattering for a large region of light DM parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Dutta, Bhaskar↗
DOE OSTI2021

Augmented signal processing in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers with a deep neural network

The Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) is an advanced neutrino detector technology widely used in recent and upcoming accelerator neutrino experiments. It features a low energy threshold and high spatial resolution that allow for comprehensive reconstruction of event topologies. In current-generation LArTPCs, the recorded data consist of digitized waveforms on wires produced by induced signal on wires of drifting ionization electrons, which can also be viewed as two-dimensional (2D) (time versus wire) projection images of charged-particle trajectories. For such an imaging detector, one critical step is the signal processing that reconstructs the original charge projections from the recorded 2D images. For the first time, we introduce a deep neural network in LArTPC signal processing to improve the signal region of interest detection. By combining domain knowledge (e.g., matching information from multiple wire planes) and deep learning, this method shows significant improvements over traditional methods. This work details the method, software tools, and performance evaluated with realistic detector simulations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗