Low-energy calibration of SuperCDMS HVeV cryogenic silicon calorimeters using Compton steps

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Physical Review D

Publication Date

11-21-2025

Abstract

Cryogenic calorimeters for low-mass dark matter searches have achieved sub-eV energy resolutions, driving advances in both low-energy calibration techniques and our understanding of detector physics. The energy deposition spectrum of gamma rays scattering off target materials exhibits step-like features, known as Compton steps, near the binding energies of atomic electrons. We demonstrate a successful use of Compton steps for sub-keV calibration of cryogenic silicon calorimeters, utilizing four SuperCDMS High- Voltage eV-resolution detectors operated with 0 V bias across the crystal. This new calibration at 0 V is compared with the established high-voltage calibration using optical photons. The comparison indicates that the detector response at 0 V is about 30% weaker than expected, highlighting challenges in detector response modeling for low-mass dark matter searches.

ISSN

2470-0010

Publisher

American Physical Society (APS)

Volume

112

Issue

9

First Page

0920141

Last Page

09201414

Disciplines

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Keywords

Cryogenic calorimeters, Low-energy calibration, Compton steps, SuperCDMS, Dark matter detection

Scopus ID

105026703035

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository

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