Related papers: Absolute measurement of the Fano factor using a Sk…
Fully-depleted thick silicon Skipper-charge-coupled devices (Skipper-CCDs) are an important technology to probe neutrino and light-dark-matter interactions due to their sub-electron read-out noise. However, the successful search for rare…
Fano noise, readout noise, and the partial charge collection (PCC) effect collectively contribute to the degradation of energy spectra in Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) measurements, especially at low energies. In this work, the X-ray…
We present results from the characterization and optimization of six Skipper CCDs for use in a prototype focal plane for the SOAR Integral Field Spectrograph (SIFS). We tested eight Skipper CCDs and selected six for SIFS based on…
We have developed a non-destructive readout system that uses a floating-gate amplifier on a thick, fully depleted charge coupled device (CCD) to achieve ultra-low readout noise of 0.068 e- rms/pix. This is the first time that discrete…
We characterize the response of a novel 250 $\mu$m thick, fully-depleted Skipper Charged-Coupled Device (CCD) to visible/near-infrared light with a focus on potential applications for astronomical observations. We achieve stable,…
The skipper CCD is a special type of charge coupled device in which the readout noise can be reduced to sub-electron levels by averaging independent measurements of the same charge. Thus the charge in the pixels can be determined by…
This paper presents a proof-of-concept demonstration of the Skipper-CCD, a sensor with single-electron counting capability, as a promising technology for implementing an electron-pump-based current source. Relying on its single-electron…
Nuclear recoils in germanium and silicon are shown to have much larger variance in electron-hole production than their electron-recoil counterparts for recoil energies between 10 and 200\,keV. This effect--owing primarily to deviations in…
Shot noise measures out-of-equilibrium current fluctuations and is a powerful tool to probe the nature of current-carrying excitations in quantum systems. Recent shot noise measurements in the heavy fermion strange metal YbRh$_2$Si$_2$…
Because of their universal nature, Fano fluctuations are expected to influence the response of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). We predict that photon counting rate ($PCR$) as a function of bias current ($I_B$) in…
We have used normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junction pairs, known as SINIS structures, for ultrasensitive thermometry at sub-Kelvin temperatures. With the help of these thermometers, we have developed an ac-technique to…
The progress in nanofabrication, measurement technology, and mesoscopic transport theory has been expanding the field of shot noise. Although a wave-packet approach to DC shot noise of independent electrons at finite temperature was offered…
Highly accurate experimental structure factors of silicon are available in the literature, and these provide the ideal test for any \emph{ab initio} method for the construction of the all-electron charge density. In a recent paper [J. R.…
Experiments aiming to directly detect dark matter through particle recoils can achieve energy thresholds of $\mathcal{O}(1\,\mathrm{eV})$. In this regime, ionization signals from small-angle Compton scatters of environmental $\gamma$-rays…
We report first-principles calculations of shot noise properties of parallel carbon wires in the regime in which the interwire distance is much smaller than the inelastic mean free path. We find that, with increasing interwire distance, the…
We present the first direct-detection search for eV-to-GeV dark matter using a new ~2-gram high-resistivity Skipper-CCD from a dedicated fabrication batch that was optimized for dark-matter searches. Using 24 days of data acquired in the…
We present new direct-detection constraints on eV-to-GeV dark matter interacting with electrons using a prototype detector of the Sub-Electron-Noise Skipper-CCD Experimental Instrument. The results are based on data taken in the MINOS…
We use a science-grade Skipper Charge Coupled Device (Skipper-CCD) operating in a low-radiation background environment to develop a semi-empirical model that characterizes the origin of single-electron events in CCDs. We identify, separate,…
This manuscript summarizes the work carried out within the SENSEI (Sub-Electron-Noise Skipper-CCD Experimental Instrument) collaboration, an effort focused on the search for light dark matter using Skipper-CCDs. Firstly, it presents the…
The development of the Skipper Charge Coupled Devices (Skipper-CCDs) has been a major technological breakthrough for sensing very weak ionizing particles. The sensor allows to reach the ultimate sensitivity of silicon material as a charge…