Optimizing the energy threshold of light detectors coupled to luminescent bolometers

Abstract

Bolometers have proven to be good detectors for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay.By operating at cryogenic temperatures, they feature excellent energy resolution and low background. The detection of the possible light emitted when particles interact in the bolometer is a promising method to lower the background of the experiments. The different amountof light emitted in β/γ and α interactions, whether due to scintillation orCerenkov emission, allows to discriminate the two interaction types. Because of the cryogenic environment, light detectors are often bolometers.In this work we present a software algorithm to lower the energy thresholdof bolometric light detectors coupled to luminescent bolometers.The application to data from Ge light detectors coupled to ZnMoO4 and TeO2 bolometers shows that the energy threshold can be lowered substantially, increasingthe discrimination power when the amount of emitted light is small.