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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 36: Search for Dark Matter II

T 36.5: Vortrag

Dienstag, 17. März 2026, 17:15–17:30, AM 00.014

Development of Cryogenic Single-Photon Detectors to Study the Light Output of Sodium Iodide Crystals for Rare Event Searches — •Lutz Ziegele for the COSINUS collaboration — Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, 85748 Garching, Germany

The Cryogenic Observatory for Signatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches (COSINUS) is a dark matter direct detection experiment located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. It employs sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as cryogenic calorimeters. Particle interactions in the crystal produce phonons, which are detected by a remote Transition Edge Sensor (remoTES), while the accompanying scintillation light is absorbed by silicon absorbers equipped with Transition Edge Sensors. This dual-readout scheme enables particle discrimination and allows for an in-situ determination of energy-dependent quenching factors.

This contribution presents the development of a detector module with enhanced scintillation light sensitivity, enabling photon-number-resolved measurements. Rather than using a single large light detector, multiple smaller light absorbers are arranged around the NaI crystal. Their reduced heat capacity improves the overall sensitivity. The main goal is a precise characterization of the scintillation light yield of ultrapure NaI crystals, which is crucial for the analysis of upcoming COSINUS data. In addition, this development establishes the basis for future studies of dark matter-electron interactions within the OνDES project, funded by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Keywords: COSINUS; photon detectors; cryogenic scintillating calorimeter; dark matter-electron scattering