Charge carrier generation in RNDR-DEPFET Detectors

TL;DR

This paper characterizes a RNDR-DEPFET pixel detector that leverages repetitive non-destructive readout to achieve ultra-low noise and high time resolution for detecting rare electron recoil events, such as in dark matter searches.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental characterization of a 64x64 RNDR-DEPFET detector focusing on charge carrier generation and its implications for rare event detection.

Findings

Achieves deep sub-electron noise through averaging multiple measurements.

Demonstrates high time resolution suitable for rare event detection.

Characterizes charge carrier generation rate in the detector.

Abstract

Depleted p-channel field effect transistor detectors with repetitive-non-destructive readout (RNDR-DEPFETs) achieve a deep sub-electron noise by averaging several independent measurements of one single event. During the repetitive readout collected electrons are transferred between two readout nodes within each pixel to enable electron number-resolved measurements. The pixels serve as a unit cell of an active pixel sensor to achieve a high level of parallelization and fast readout. These properties are exploited in the DANAE experiment, which aims for the direct detection of light dark matter based with the event signature of electron recoils. We present the experimental characterization of an $64\times64$ RNDR-DEPFET pixel detector with a focus on the charge carrier generation rate. This technology achieves a high time resolution, which increases its sensitivity on rare events with a signal of two or more electrons due to the Poisson distribution of thermal generated electrons.