The First Tests of a Large-Area Light Detector Equipped with Metallic Magnetic Calorimeters for Scintillating Bolometers for the LUMINEU Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Search

Future rare-event searches using scintillating crystals need very low background levels for high sensitivity; however, unresolved pile-up can limit this. We present the design and fabrication of large-area photon detectors based on metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs), optimized for fast rise times to resolve close pile-up. The first prototypes have been characterized using Fe-55 X-rays and ZnMoO\(_{4}\) crystal scintillation light. A fast intrinsic rise time of 25–30 \(\upmu \)s has been measured and has been compared to the 250 \(\upmu \)s scintillation light pulse rise time constant. The difference indicates that the scintillation process limits the light pulse rise time. The fast rise time allows for a reduction of background due to close pile-up events as well as the study of the inherent crystal scintillation process. MMC-based photon detectors are shown to be a promising tool for scintillating crystal based rare event searches.