SuperEM: a Sub-meV Threshold Cryogenic Detector for Neutrino and Dark Matter Searches

Abstract:

Exploring the Sub-GeV frontier for Light Dark Matter (LDM), resolving the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CνB), and observing Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS) require detectors with strictly sub-meVenergy thresholds and massive multiplexing capabilities. Historically, achieving sub-meVthresholds alongside nanosecond timing and scalability has represented an “impossible triangle” for cryogenic sensors. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce theSuperEM(Superconductor-Coupled Semiconductor Electron-Multiplying) detector architecture, a novel S-I-P-N framework designed to overcome these limitations. By integrating a superconducting absorber (S-Layer), a quantum tunneling barrier (I-Layer), and a charge multiplication region (P-N Junction), theSuperEMscheme achieves a sub-meVthreshold, high gain, and a nanosecond-level non-thermal equilibrium response while maintaining compatibility with scalable semiconductor processes.

About thespeaker:

Dr. Xilei Sun is a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP). His research focuses on advanced radiation detection technologies, space astronomy instrumentation, and low-background neutrino and dark matter experiments. Dr. Sun served as co-proposer and prototype developer for the 5-sided sensitive 3D imaging calorimeter of HERD (scheduled for launch in 2029) and led the proposal and development of the SiPM+LaBr3space gamma-ray detector on GECAM (launched in 2020). He also proposed and prototyped both a dual-scintillating crystal scheme for dark matter detection and a cryogenicCsIdetector for coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS). In engineering leadership, Dr. Sun served as task leader for the 20,000-ton ultrapure liquid scintillator mixing for the JUNO experiment (completed August 2025). He also led a key R&D project on ultra-high energy resolution and multi-modal radiation detectors (completed October 2025), which earned the Special Prize of the Chinese Society of Radiation Protection Science and Technology Award. Currently, Dr. Sun is pioneering theSuperEMscheme—a sub-meV, ultra-low threshold superconductor-coupled semiconductor detector targeting next-generation neutrino and dark matter searches.

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Meeting ID 会议号: 93135039453
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