CALDER: cryogenic light detector for rare events search

TL;DR

The CALDER project develops cryogenic light detectors using Kinetic Inductance Detectors to enhance particle identification in bolometers by detecting Cherenkov light, aiming to improve background reduction in rare event searches.

Contribution

This work introduces a novel cryogenic light detector based on Kinetic Inductance Detectors specifically designed for particle tagging in bolometers.

Findings

Initial results demonstrate the feasibility of the Kinetic Inductance Detector approach.

The detector shows high sensitivity to UV and visible light.

Potential to increase CUORE's sensitivity by a factor of 3.

Abstract

The CALDER project aims at developing cryogenic light detectors with high sensitivity to UV and visible light, to be used for particle tagging in massive bolometers. Indeed the sensitivity of CUORE can be increased by a factor of 3, thanks to the reduction of the $\alpha$-background, obtained by detecting the Cherenkov light (100 eV) emitted by $\beta/\gamma$ events. Currently used light detectors have not the features required to address this task, so we decided to develop a new light detector using Kinetic Inductance Detector as a sensor. This approach is very challenging and requires an intensive R$\&$D to be satisfied. The first results of this activity are shown in the following.