Setup and calibration of a particle detector based on charge coupled devices

Thick Charge Couple Devices have proven to be interesting particle detectors. The DAMIC and CONNIE collaborations are using this technology to search for the elastic scattering of a dark matter particle or a neutrino with a silicon nucleus, producing a nuclear recoil. The experiments reach unprecedented sensitivity at low energies (below 100 eV) by taking advantage of the low readout noise achieved by these devices. The present document describes an experimental setup at the Centra Atomico Bariloche, its noise treatment and its calibration.

I. Introduction

Given their high resolution, Charge Couple Devices (CCDs) are extensively used in ground or space-based astronomy as imaging detectors [1]. To reach the near infrared-red domain, high resistivity scientific CCDs were developed for the DE-Cam project extending the depletion region from typically 20 to 650 [2] [3]. Given the thickness and the low noise of these sensors, it became interesting to use these devices as particle detectors. This technology is being used succesfully for the first time by the DAMIC and CONNIE collaborations.