First measurement of GaAs as a scintillating calorimeter: achievements and prospects

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Main Authors: Melchiorre, A., Helis, D. L., Puiu, A., Benato, G., Carniti, P., Colantoni, I., Continenza, A., Di Marco, N., Ferella, A., Ferrari, C., Giannessi, F., Gotti, C., Monticone, E., Nagorny, S., Olivieri, E., Pagnanini, L., Pessina, G., Petrucci, C., Pirro, S., Prajapati, A., Profeta, G., Rajteri, M., Settembri, P., Shaikina, A., Tresca, C., Trotta, D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Melchiorre, A.
Helis, D. L.
Puiu, A.
Benato, G.
Carniti, P.
Colantoni, I.
Continenza, A.
Di Marco, N.
Ferella, A.
Ferrari, C.
Giannessi, F.
Gotti, C.
Monticone, E.
Nagorny, S.
Olivieri, E.
Pagnanini, L.
Pessina, G.
Petrucci, C.
Pirro, S.
Prajapati, A.
Profeta, G.
Rajteri, M.
Settembri, P.
Shaikina, A.
Tresca, C.
Trotta, D.
author_facet Melchiorre, A.
Helis, D. L.
Puiu, A.
Benato, G.
Carniti, P.
Colantoni, I.
Continenza, A.
Di Marco, N.
Ferella, A.
Ferrari, C.
Giannessi, F.
Gotti, C.
Monticone, E.
Nagorny, S.
Olivieri, E.
Pagnanini, L.
Pessina, G.
Petrucci, C.
Pirro, S.
Prajapati, A.
Profeta, G.
Rajteri, M.
Settembri, P.
Shaikina, A.
Tresca, C.
Trotta, D.
contents In this paper we present the first measurement of a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystal as a scintillating calorimeter with dual heat and light readout within the DAREDEVIL project. The experimental setup features a 4.3 g GaAs (GaAs-1) crystal, operated at approximately 10 mK coupled with a Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) thermal sensor for phonon detection and an auxiliary calorimeter for the detection of scintillation light. For the GaAs-1 crystal, a baseline resolution of 121$\pm$ 2 eV has been achieved. While, with a 3.5 g GaAs (GaAs-2) crystal an even better baseline resolution of 44.5 $\pm$ 0.8 eV was achieved. Alpha and X-ray calibration sources were used to study the scintillation light response to different types of interacting radiation. The GaAs crystal exhibits a strong particle discrimination capability based on the emitted scintillation light, featuring a light yield (LY) of 0.9 $\pm$ 0.2 keV/MeV for $α$ induced events and 0.07 $\pm$ 0.01 keV/MeV for $β$/$γ$ events, both measured at 1~MeV. The unusual luminescence behavior, i.e. more light being produced under irradiation by $α$ particles warrants further investigation, particularly due to its potential to enhance sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils from light dark matter scattering.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_07119
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First measurement of GaAs as a scintillating calorimeter: achievements and prospects
Melchiorre, A.
Helis, D. L.
Puiu, A.
Benato, G.
Carniti, P.
Colantoni, I.
Continenza, A.
Di Marco, N.
Ferella, A.
Ferrari, C.
Giannessi, F.
Gotti, C.
Monticone, E.
Nagorny, S.
Olivieri, E.
Pagnanini, L.
Pessina, G.
Petrucci, C.
Pirro, S.
Prajapati, A.
Profeta, G.
Rajteri, M.
Settembri, P.
Shaikina, A.
Tresca, C.
Trotta, D.
Instrumentation and Detectors
High Energy Physics - Experiment
In this paper we present the first measurement of a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystal as a scintillating calorimeter with dual heat and light readout within the DAREDEVIL project. The experimental setup features a 4.3 g GaAs (GaAs-1) crystal, operated at approximately 10 mK coupled with a Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) thermal sensor for phonon detection and an auxiliary calorimeter for the detection of scintillation light. For the GaAs-1 crystal, a baseline resolution of 121$\pm$ 2 eV has been achieved. While, with a 3.5 g GaAs (GaAs-2) crystal an even better baseline resolution of 44.5 $\pm$ 0.8 eV was achieved. Alpha and X-ray calibration sources were used to study the scintillation light response to different types of interacting radiation. The GaAs crystal exhibits a strong particle discrimination capability based on the emitted scintillation light, featuring a light yield (LY) of 0.9 $\pm$ 0.2 keV/MeV for $α$ induced events and 0.07 $\pm$ 0.01 keV/MeV for $β$/$γ$ events, both measured at 1~MeV. The unusual luminescence behavior, i.e. more light being produced under irradiation by $α$ particles warrants further investigation, particularly due to its potential to enhance sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils from light dark matter scattering.
title First measurement of GaAs as a scintillating calorimeter: achievements and prospects
topic Instrumentation and Detectors
High Energy Physics - Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.07119