Characterization of a Transition-Edge Sensor for the ALPS II Experiment

TL;DR

This paper details the characterization of a Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) optimized for 1064 nm photons, demonstrating high efficiency and low background noise, for use in the ALPS II experiment searching for light bosons.

Contribution

It provides the latest performance metrics and characterization results of a TES detector tailored for the ALPS II experiment, highlighting its suitability for low-background photon detection.

Findings

Quantum efficiency up to 95% at 1064 nm

Background rate below 10^-2 sec^-1

Dark count rate around 10^-4 sec^-1

Abstract

The ALPS II experiment, Any Light Particle Search II at DESY in Hamburg, will look for light (m< 10-4 eV) new fundamental bosons (e.g., axion-like particles, hidden photons and other WISPs) in the next years by the mean of a light-shining-through-the-wall setup. The ALPS II photosensor is a Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) optimized for lambda = 1064 nm photons. The detector is routinely operated at 80 mK, allowing single infrared photon detections as well as non-dispersive spectroscopy with very low background rates. The demonstrated quantum efficiency for such TES is up to 95% at lambda =1064 nm. For 1064 nm photons, the measured background rate is < 10-2 sec-1 and the intrinsic dark count rate in a dark environment was found to be of 1,0.10-4 sec-1. Latest characterization results are discussed.