Development of a scintillation light detector for a cryogenic rare-event-search experiment

We developed a light detector to measure scintillation light from a crystal utilized in heat and light measurements at low temperatures for a rare-event-search experiment. A 2-in. Ge wafer was used as the light absorber, while a metallic magnetic calorimeter was employed to read out the temperature increase of the absorber. The light detector was tested at 25–100 mK using a cryogen-free adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The performance in terms of energy resolution, rise time and signal amplitude was measured using radioactive sources with a consideration of the absorption position on the wafer. The light detector was used to measure the scintillation light of a CaMoO4 crystal at mK temperatures. We also discuss for the potential application of this detector in a neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment.