https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-15073-1
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
First measurement of GaAs as a scintillating calorimeter: achievements and prospects
1
INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
3
Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
4
INFN and Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, 20126, Milan, Italy
5
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, c/o Dip. Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185, Rome, Italy
6
INFN, Sezione di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
7
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405, Orsay, France
8
Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica Torino, 10135, Turin, Italy
9
CNR-SPIN, Università degli studi dell’Aquila, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
a
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b
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Received:
2
July
2025
Accepted:
13
November
2025
Published online:
6
December
2025
Abstract
In this paper we present the first measurement of a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystal as a scintillating calorimeter with dual heat and light readout within the DAREDEVIL project. The experimental setup features a 4.3 g GaAs ( GaAs-1) crystal, operated at approximately 10 mK coupled with a Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) thermal sensor for phonon detection and an auxiliary calorimeter for the detection of scintillation light. For the GaAs-1 crystal, a baseline resolution of 121 ± 2 eV has been achieved. While, with a 3.5 g GaAs (GaAs-2) crystal an even better baseline resolution of 44.5 ± 0.8 eV was achieved. Alpha and X-ray calibration sources were used to study the scintillation light response to different types of interacting radiation. The GaAs crystal exhibits a strong particle discrimination capability based on the emitted scintillation light, featuring a light yield (LY) of 0.9 ± 0.2 keV/MeV for 
induced events and 0.07 ± 0.01 keV/MeV for 
/
events, both measured at 1 MeV. The unusual luminescence behavior, i.e. more light being produced under irradiation by particles warrants further investigation, particularly due to its potential to enhance sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils from light dark matter scattering.
© The Author(s) 2025
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Funded by SCOAP3.
