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arXiv · 2401.14114

Development of a Silicon Drift Detector Array to Search for keV-scale Sterile Neutrinos with the KATRIN Experiment

Abstract

Sterile neutrinos in the keV mass range present a viable candidate for dark matter. They can be detected through single $\beta$ decay, where they cause small spectral distortions. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos with high sensitivity. To achieve this, the KATRIN beamline will be equipped with a novel multi-pixel silicon drift detector focal plane array named TRISTAN. In this study, we present the performance of a TRISTAN detector module, a component of the eventual 9-module system. Our investigation encompasses spectroscopic aspects such as noise performance, energy resolution, linearity, and stability.

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Daniel Siegmann, Frank Edzards, Christina Bruch, Matteo Biassoni, Marco Carminati, Martin Descher, Carlo Fiorini, Christian Forstner, Andrew Gavin, Matteo Gugiatti, Roman Hiller, Dominic Hinz, Thibaut Houdy, Anton Huber, Pietro King, Peter Lechner, Steffen Lichter, Danilo Mießner, Andrea Nava, Anthony Onillon, David C. Radford, Daniela Spreng, Markus Steidl, Paolo Trigilio, Korbinian Urban, Drahos Vénos, Joachim Wolf, Susanne Mertens. 2024-01-25. Development of a Silicon Drift Detector Array to Search for keV-scale Sterile Neutrinos with the KATRIN Experiment. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471%2Fad4bf8

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