Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor

Abstract Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) are being used for reactor neutrino experiments and have already demonstrated their potential in constraining new physics models. The prospect of a Skipper-CCD experiment looking for standard and beyond standard model (BSM) physics in a nuclear reactor has been...

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Main Authors: E. Depaoli, D. Rodrigues, I. Sidelnik, P. Bellino, A. Botti, D. Delgado, M. Cababié, F. Chierchie, J. Estrada, G. Fernández Moroni, S. Perez, J. Tiffenberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-10-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2024)155
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author E. Depaoli
D. Rodrigues
I. Sidelnik
P. Bellino
A. Botti
D. Delgado
M. Cababié
F. Chierchie
J. Estrada
G. Fernández Moroni
S. Perez
J. Tiffenberg
author_facet E. Depaoli
D. Rodrigues
I. Sidelnik
P. Bellino
A. Botti
D. Delgado
M. Cababié
F. Chierchie
J. Estrada
G. Fernández Moroni
S. Perez
J. Tiffenberg
author_sort E. Depaoli
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) are being used for reactor neutrino experiments and have already demonstrated their potential in constraining new physics models. The prospect of a Skipper-CCD experiment looking for standard and beyond standard model (BSM) physics in a nuclear reactor has been evaluated for different benchmark scenarios. Here, we report the first installation of a 2-g Skipper-CCD inside the containment building of a 2 GW th nuclear power plant and analyze its performance throughout its first 18 months of operation. The sensor was successfully deployed at Atucha II, in Argentina, 12 meters away from the center of the reactor core. We discuss the challenges involved in the commissioning of the detector and present data acquired during reactor ON and reactor OFF periods, with the sensor functioning with a sub-electron readout noise of 0.17 e−. Based on an exposure of 56.8 g day reactor ON and two reactor OFF data sets with a total exposure of 118.1 g day we characterize the system and evaluate the sensitivity to CEvNS. We achieved a background rate of 33 kdru and a low threshold of 45 eV ee . The ongoing efforts to improve sensitivities to CEvNS and BSM interaction are also discussed.
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spelling doaj-art-98ed06c978ca47be9174ace4b9ac83f82025-08-20T02:20:37ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792024-10-0120241011810.1007/JHEP10(2024)155Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactorE. Depaoli0D. Rodrigues1I. Sidelnik2P. Bellino3A. Botti4D. Delgado5M. Cababié6F. Chierchie7J. Estrada8G. Fernández Moroni9S. Perez10J. Tiffenberg11Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía AtómicaDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresDepartamento de Física de Neutrones, Centro Atómico Bariloche, (CNEA, CONICET)Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía AtómicaFermi National Accelerator LaboratoryCentral Nuclear ATUCHA I-II, Nucleoeléctrica Argentina Sociedad AnónimaDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresInstituto de Inv. en Ing. Eléctrica “Alfredo Desages” (IIIE), CONICET and Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS)Fermi National Accelerator LaboratoryFermi National Accelerator LaboratoryDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresFermi National Accelerator LaboratoryAbstract Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) are being used for reactor neutrino experiments and have already demonstrated their potential in constraining new physics models. The prospect of a Skipper-CCD experiment looking for standard and beyond standard model (BSM) physics in a nuclear reactor has been evaluated for different benchmark scenarios. Here, we report the first installation of a 2-g Skipper-CCD inside the containment building of a 2 GW th nuclear power plant and analyze its performance throughout its first 18 months of operation. The sensor was successfully deployed at Atucha II, in Argentina, 12 meters away from the center of the reactor core. We discuss the challenges involved in the commissioning of the detector and present data acquired during reactor ON and reactor OFF periods, with the sensor functioning with a sub-electron readout noise of 0.17 e−. Based on an exposure of 56.8 g day reactor ON and two reactor OFF data sets with a total exposure of 118.1 g day we characterize the system and evaluate the sensitivity to CEvNS. We achieved a background rate of 33 kdru and a low threshold of 45 eV ee . The ongoing efforts to improve sensitivities to CEvNS and BSM interaction are also discussed.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2024)155Electroweak InteractionNeutrino Detectors and Telescopes (experiments)Beyond Standard Model
spellingShingle E. Depaoli
D. Rodrigues
I. Sidelnik
P. Bellino
A. Botti
D. Delgado
M. Cababié
F. Chierchie
J. Estrada
G. Fernández Moroni
S. Perez
J. Tiffenberg
Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
Journal of High Energy Physics
Electroweak Interaction
Neutrino Detectors and Telescopes (experiments)
Beyond Standard Model
title Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
title_full Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
title_fullStr Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
title_full_unstemmed Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
title_short Deployment and performance of a Low-Energy-Threshold Skipper-CCD inside a nuclear reactor
title_sort deployment and performance of a low energy threshold skipper ccd inside a nuclear reactor
topic Electroweak Interaction
Neutrino Detectors and Telescopes (experiments)
Beyond Standard Model
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2024)155
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