Gustavo Cancelo

Development of a pixel readout chip for BTeV

A description is given of the R&D program underway at Fermilab to develop a pixel readout ASIC appropriate for use at the Tevatron collider. Results are presentetd frOm tests performed on the first prototype pixel readout chip deigned at Fermilab, and a new readout architecture is described.

Search for low-mass WIMPs in a 0.6 kg day exposure of the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB

We present results of a dark matter search performed with a 0.6 kg d exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. We measure the energy spectrum of ionization events in the bulk silicon of charge-coupled devices down to a signal of 60 eV electron equivalent. The data are consistent with radiogenic backgrounds, and constraints on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section are accordingly placed. A region of parameter space relevant to the potential signal from the CDMS-II Si experiment is excluded using the same target for the first time. This result obtained with a limited exposure demonstrates the potential to explore the low-mass WIMP region (<10  GeV c-2) with the upcoming DAMIC100, a 100 g detector currently being installed in SNOLAB.

FPIX2: A radiation-hard pixel readout chip for BTeV

A radiation-hard pixel readout chip, FPIX2, is being developed at Fermilab for the recently approved BTeV experiment. Although designed for BTeV, this chip should also be appropriate for use by CDF and DZero. A short review of this development effort is presented. Particular attention is given to the circuit redesign which was made necessary by the decision to implement FPIX2 using a standard deep-submicron CMOS process rather than an explicitly radiation-hard CMOS technology, as originally planned. The results of initial tests of prototype 0.25{micro} CMOS devices are presented, as are plans for the balance of the development effort.

Charge coupled devices for detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering

In this article the feasibility of using charge coupled devices (CCD) to detect low-energy neutrinos through their coherent scattering with nuclei is analyzed. The detection of neutrinos through this standard model process has been elusive because of the small energy deposited in such interaction. Typical particle detectors have thresholds of a few keV, and most of the energy deposition expected from coherent scattering is well below this level. The CCD detectors discussed in this paper can operate at a threshold of approximately 30 eV, making them ideal for observing this signal. On a CCD array of 500 g located next to a power nuclear reactor the number of coherent scattering events expected is about 3000 events/year. Our results shows that a detection with a confidence level of 99% can be reached within 16 days of continuous operation; with the current 52 g detector prototype this time lapse extends to five months.

Measurement of radioactive contamination in the high-resistivity silicon CCDs of the DAMIC experiment

We present measurements of radioactive contamination in the high-resistivity silicon charge-coupled devices (CCDs) used by the DAMIC experiment to search for dark matter particles. Novel analysis methods, which exploit the unique spatial resolution of CCDs, were developed to identify

Results of the engineering run of the Coherent Neutrino Nucleus Interaction Experiment (CONNIE)

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First Direct-Detection Constraints on eV-Scale Hidden-Photon Dark Matter with DAMIC at SNOLAB

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Beam test results of the BTeV silicon pixel detector

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The CONNIE experiment

particles. Uranium and thorium contamination in the CCD bulk was measured through

Development of a novel neutron detection technique by using a boron layer coating a Charge Coupled Device

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