A novel detector system for KATRIN to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new multi-pixel silicon detector system for the KATRIN experiment to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos, aiming to detect subtle spectral distortions indicative of these particles.

Contribution

It presents the design requirements and initial characterization results of a novel detector system for sterile neutrino detection in the KATRIN experiment.

Findings

Successful characterization of a 7-pixel prototype detector.

Identification of key detector requirements for sterile neutrino searches.

Foundation for future large-scale detector implementation.

Abstract

Sterile neutrinos are a minimal extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. If their mass is in the kilo-electron-volt regime, they are viable dark matter candidates. One way to search for sterile neutrinos in a laboratory-based experiment is via tritium-beta decay, where the new neutrino mass eigenstate would manifest itself as a kink-like distortion of the $\beta$-decay spectrum. The objective of the TRISTAN project is to extend the KATRIN setup with a new multi-pixel silicon drift detector system to search for a keV-scale sterile neutrino signal. In this paper we describe the requirements of such a new detector, and present first characterization measurement results obtained with a 7-pixel prototype system.