Germanium response to sub-keV nuclear recoils: a multipronged experimental characterization [CL]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2102.10089


Germanium is the detector material of choice in many rare-event searches looking for low-energy nuclear recoils induced by dark matter particles or neutrinos. We perform a systematic exploration of its quenching factor for sub-keV nuclear recoils, using multiple techniques: photo-neutron sources, recoils from gamma-emission following thermal neutron capture, and a monochromatic filtered neutron beam. Our results point to a marked deviation from the predictions of the Lindhard model in this mostly unexplored energy range. We comment on the compatibility of our data with low-energy processes such as the Migdal effect, and on the impact of our measurements on upcoming searches.

Read this paper on arXiv…

J. Collar, A. Kavner and C. Lewis
Tue, 23 Feb 21
73/79

Comments: 10 pages, 10 figures