Collective excitations and low-energy ionization signatures of relativistic particles in silicon detectors
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866910904632737792 |
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| author | Essig, Rouven Plestid, Ryan Singal, Aman |
| author_facet | Essig, Rouven Plestid, Ryan Singal, Aman |
| contents | Solid-state detectors with a low energy threshold have several applications, including searches of non-relativistic halo dark-matter particles with sub-GeV masses. When searching for relativistic, beyond-the-Standard-Model particles with enhanced cross sections for small energy transfers, a small detector with a low energy threshold may have better sensitivity than a larger detector with a higher energy threshold. In this paper, we calculate the low-energy ionization spectrum from high-velocity particles scattering in a dielectric material. We consider the full material response including the excitation of bulk plasmons. We generalize the energy-loss function to relativistic kinematics, and benchmark existing tools used for halo dark-matter scattering against electron energy-loss spectroscopy data. Compared to calculations commonly used in the literature, such as the Photo-Absorption-Ionization model or the free-electron model, including collective effects shifts the recoil ionization spectrum towards higher energies, typically peaking around 4--6 electron-hole pairs. We apply our results to the three benchmark examples: millicharged particles produced in a beam, neutrinos with a magnetic dipole moment produced in a reactor, and upscattered dark-matter particles. Our results show that the proper inclusion of collective effects typically enhances a detector's sensitivity to these particles, since detector backgrounds, such as dark counts, peak at lower energies. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_00123 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Collective excitations and low-energy ionization signatures of relativistic particles in silicon detectors Essig, Rouven Plestid, Ryan Singal, Aman High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Experiment Instrumentation and Detectors Solid-state detectors with a low energy threshold have several applications, including searches of non-relativistic halo dark-matter particles with sub-GeV masses. When searching for relativistic, beyond-the-Standard-Model particles with enhanced cross sections for small energy transfers, a small detector with a low energy threshold may have better sensitivity than a larger detector with a higher energy threshold. In this paper, we calculate the low-energy ionization spectrum from high-velocity particles scattering in a dielectric material. We consider the full material response including the excitation of bulk plasmons. We generalize the energy-loss function to relativistic kinematics, and benchmark existing tools used for halo dark-matter scattering against electron energy-loss spectroscopy data. Compared to calculations commonly used in the literature, such as the Photo-Absorption-Ionization model or the free-electron model, including collective effects shifts the recoil ionization spectrum towards higher energies, typically peaking around 4--6 electron-hole pairs. We apply our results to the three benchmark examples: millicharged particles produced in a beam, neutrinos with a magnetic dipole moment produced in a reactor, and upscattered dark-matter particles. Our results show that the proper inclusion of collective effects typically enhances a detector's sensitivity to these particles, since detector backgrounds, such as dark counts, peak at lower energies. |
| title | Collective excitations and low-energy ionization signatures of relativistic particles in silicon detectors |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Experiment Instrumentation and Detectors |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.00123 |