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arXiv · 2608.11303

Temperature-Dependent Performance of NaI(Tl) Crystal with Dual-Channel SiPM Readout for Low-Mass Dark Matter Searches

W. K. Kim·H. Y. Lee·K. W. Kim·H. S. Lee
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Abstract

We report the first temperature-dependent characterization of a NaI(Tl) crystal readout by two silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) directly coupled to opposite ends of the crystal for rare-event searches. A $6 \text{ mm} \times 6 \text{ mm} \times 13 \text{ mm}$ NaI(Tl) crystal was directly coupled to two SiPMs and characterized in a liquid nitrogen-cooled cryostat over a temperature range of 94$-$293 K. The light yield, energy resolution, and scintillation decay time were measured using $\gamma$-ray peak from a $^{241}$Am source. After correcting for optical crosstalk contributions, the light yield increased, reaching $17.7 \pm 1.1$ photoelectrons/keV at 238 K, corresponding to a 34.5% enhancement relative to room temperature (293 K). Furthermore, dual-channel configuration effectively suppresses random thermal noise via coincidence triggers, which together with the observed increase in light yield, provides a critical pathway toward lowering the energy threshold for dark matter and coherent elastic neutrino$-$nucleus scattering searches.

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W. K. Kim, H. Y. Lee, K. W. Kim, H. S. Lee. 2026-08-11. Temperature-Dependent Performance of NaI(Tl) Crystal with Dual-Channel SiPM Readout for Low-Mass Dark Matter Searches. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11303

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