A scintillating bolometer (or luminescent bolometer) is a

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

using

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

in the search for events with low energy deposition. These events could include

dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

, low energy

solar neutrinos A solar neutrino is a neutrino originating from nuclear fusion in the Sun's Solar core, core, and is the most common type of neutrino passing through any source observed on Earth at any particular moment. Neutrinos are elementary particles with ex ...

double beta decay In nuclear physics, double beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which two neutrons are simultaneously transformed into two protons, or vice versa, inside an atomic nucleus. As in single beta decay, this process allows the atom to move cl ...

or rare

radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

. It works by simultaneously measuring both the light pulse and heat pulse generated by a particle interaction within its internal

scintillator A scintillator ( ) is a material that exhibits scintillation, the property of luminescence, when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate (i.e. re-emit the ab ...

crystal. The device was originally proposed by L. Gonzalez-Mestres and D. Perret-Gallix (LAPP, IN2P3/CNRS) In their rapporteur contribution to the Proceedings of the XXIV International Conference on High-Energy Physics, Munich, August 1988, Gonzalez-Mestres and Perret-Gallix wrote : ''Perhaps bolometry should in some cases be combined with other detection techniques (luminescence?) in order to produce a primary fast signal as timing strobe. If light is used as a complementary signature, particle identification can be achieved through the heat-light ratio, where nucleus recoil is expected to be less luminescent than ionizing particles. The success of such a development would open the way to unprecedented achievements in background rejection for rare event experiments.'' Further explanations, including a description of the detector and possible applications incorporating in particular BGO and tungstates, were given by these authors in other papers such a
their contribution
to the March 1989 Moriond Meeting (pages 16–18). The luminescent bolometer has since then been developed by scientists from several groups, including the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale and

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain). Founded in 1542, it is one of the List of oldest u ...

collaboration in view of the proposed ROSEBUD particle detector experiment in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. Rosebud uses a

bismuth germanate Bismuth germanium oxide or bismuth germanate is an inorganic chemical compound of bismuth, germanium and oxygen. Most commonly the term refers to the compound with chemical formula (BGO), with the cubic crystal, cubic evlitine crystal structure, ...

( Bi Ge O, "BGO") detector crystal. The CRESST collaboratio
is currently using
the same kind of device with CaWO₄ crystals in an experiment to detect dark matter at

Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) is the largest underground research center in the world. Situated below Gran Sasso mountain in Italy, it is well known for particle physics research by the INFN. In addition to a surface portion of t ...

References

External links

* (August 1988)
published
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research (July 1999). * * {{cite web, url=http://taup2009.lngs.infn.it/slides/jul3/ortigoza.pdf, title=BGO Scintillating Bolometer: Its application in dark matter experiments Scientific instruments