Characterization of SuperCDMS 1-inch Ge Detectors

Abstract

The newly commissioned SuperCDMS Soudan experiment aims to search for WIMP dark matter with a sensitivity to cross sections of 5×10^(−45)cm^2 and larger (90% CL upper limit). This goal is facilitated by a new set of germanium detectors, 2.5 times more massive than the ones used in the CDMS-II experiment, and with a different athermal phonon sensor layout that eliminates radial degeneracy in position reconstruction of high radius events. We present characterization data on these detectors, as well as improved techniques for correcting position-dependent variations in pulse shape across the detector. These improvements provide surface-event discrimination sufficient for a reach of 5×10^(−45)cm^2.

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