Radioactivity induced dark count rate for single near-infrared photon detection with a tungsten transition edge sensor at 80 mK

TL;DR

This study investigates how natural radioactivity contributes to the dark count rate in tungsten superconducting transition-edge sensors used for single near-infrared photon detection at 80 mK, revealing radioactivity as a significant background source.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of natural radioactivity's impact on the background count rate of tungsten TES detectors for near-infrared photons.

Findings

Natural radioactivity increases the background count rate.

Approximately 0.5% of gamma-ray events mimic single photon signals.

Radioactivity accounts for most of the observed background rate.

Abstract

The intrinsic background count rate of tungsten superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) is low, and the calorimeters using these sensors can resolve the energy of single photons. These facts make the sensors particularly interesting for the background-limited searches of new processes and particles. In this contribution, the intrinsic background of a tungsten TES has been investigated. After excluding other sources (e.g., cosmic muons, thermal background) relevant for the observed background rate of $10^{-4}$~s$^{-1}$ for the detection of photons with a wave length of 1064 nm, we investigate the impact of natural radioactivity. Dedicated measurements using gamma-emitters mounted outside the cryostat have been used to estimate the sensitivity of the TES setup for ionizing radiation. We have found that indeed an increased background can be observed in the presence of the radioactive sources. After selecting events which populate our signal region tuned for single photon detection at near-infrared, roughly 0.5% of the events produced by gamma-rays appear indistinguishable from those due to single photons with 1064~nm wave length. This ratio is consistent with that observed for the residual background detected with the TES at a rate of $10^{-4}$~s$^{-1}$. From this, we conclude that the bulk of the observed background count-rate in the signal region can be explained by natural radioactivity.