Scintillating bolometer
Encyclopedia
A scintillating bolometer is a scientific instrument
used in the search for dark matter
. It works by simultaneously measuring both the light pulse and heat pulse generated by a particle interaction within its internal scintillator
crystal.
It was developed by scientists at the CNRS Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale and the University of Zaragoza
as part of the proposed ROSEBUD
particle detector experiment in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory
. It uses a bismuth germanate
(Bi
Ge
O
, "BGO") detector crystal.
Scientific instrument
A scientific instrument can be any type of equipment, machine, apparatus or device as is specifically designed, constructed and often, through trial and error, ingeniously refined to apply utmost efficiency in the utilization of well proven physical principle, relationship or technology to...
used in the search for dark matter
Dark matter
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is matter that neither emits nor scatters light or other electromagnetic radiation, and so cannot be directly detected via optical or radio astronomy...
. It works by simultaneously measuring both the light pulse and heat pulse generated by a particle interaction within its internal scintillator
Scintillator
A scintillator is a special material, which 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., reemit the absorbed energy in the form of light...
crystal.
It was developed by scientists at the CNRS Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale and the University of Zaragoza
University of Zaragoza
The University of Zaragoza or sometimes Saragossa University is a university located in Zaragoza, in the Aragon region of Spain...
as part of the proposed ROSEBUD
Rosebud
A rosebud is the bud of a rose flower. The word may refer to:-Arts:* A plot device in the film Citizen Kane* "Rosebud" , an episode of the television comedy The Simpsons, parodying Citizen Kane...
particle detector experiment in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory
Canfranc Underground Laboratory
The Canfranc Underground Laboratory is an underground scientific facility situated in a former railway tunnel in the Spanish Pyrenees under Monte Tobazo in Spain....
. It uses a bismuth germanate
Bismuth germanate
Bismuth germanium oxide is an inorganic chemical compound with main use as a scintillator. It forms cubic crystals....
(Bi
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
Ge
Germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. The isolated element is a semiconductor, with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon....
O
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
, "BGO") detector crystal.