Low-Energy Backgrounds in Solid-State Phonon and Charge Detectors

Daniel Baxter; Rouven Essig; Yonit Hochberg; Margarita Kaznacheeva; Belina von Krosigk; Florian Reindl; Roger K. Romani; Felix Wagner

doi:10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849

Low-Energy Backgrounds in Solid-State Phonon and Charge Detectors

Daniel Baxter
, Rouven Essig
, Yonit Hochberg
, Margarita Kaznacheeva
, Belina von Krosigk
, Florian Reindl
, Roger K. Romani
, Felix Wagner

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Northwestern University
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Cornell University
Technical University of Munich
Heidelberg University
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Austrian Academy of Sciences
TU Wien
University of California at Berkeley
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Solid-state phonon and charge detectors probe the scattering of weakly interacting particles, such as dark matter and neutrinos, through their low recoil thresholds. Recent advancements have pushed sensitivity to eV-scale energy depositions, uncovering previously unseen low-energy excess backgrounds. While some arise from known processes such as thermal radiation, luminescence, and stress, others remain unexplained. This review examines these backgrounds, their possible origins, and parallels to low-energy effects in solids, an understanding of which is essential for interpreting particle interactions at and below the eV scale.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	301-326
Number of pages	26
Journal	Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science
Volume	75
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849
State	Published - Sep 22 2025

Keywords

coherent neutrino–nucleus scattering
dark matter
low-energy excess
rare event searches
solid-state detectors

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10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849

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title = "Low-Energy Backgrounds in Solid-State Phonon and Charge Detectors",

abstract = "Solid-state phonon and charge detectors probe the scattering of weakly interacting particles, such as dark matter and neutrinos, through their low recoil thresholds. Recent advancements have pushed sensitivity to eV-scale energy depositions, uncovering previously unseen low-energy excess backgrounds. While some arise from known processes such as thermal radiation, luminescence, and stress, others remain unexplained. This review examines these backgrounds, their possible origins, and parallels to low-energy effects in solids, an understanding of which is essential for interpreting particle interactions at and below the eV scale.",

keywords = "coherent neutrino–nucleus scattering, dark matter, low-energy excess, rare event searches, solid-state detectors",

author = "Daniel Baxter and Rouven Essig and Yonit Hochberg and Margarita Kaznacheeva and \{von Krosigk\}, Belina and Florian Reindl and Romani, \{Roger K.\} and Felix Wagner",

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doi = "10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849",

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T1 - Low-Energy Backgrounds in Solid-State Phonon and Charge Detectors

AU - Baxter, Daniel

AU - Essig, Rouven

AU - Hochberg, Yonit

AU - Kaznacheeva, Margarita

AU - von Krosigk, Belina

AU - Reindl, Florian

AU - Romani, Roger K.

AU - Wagner, Felix

PY - 2025/9/22

Y1 - 2025/9/22

N2 - Solid-state phonon and charge detectors probe the scattering of weakly interacting particles, such as dark matter and neutrinos, through their low recoil thresholds. Recent advancements have pushed sensitivity to eV-scale energy depositions, uncovering previously unseen low-energy excess backgrounds. While some arise from known processes such as thermal radiation, luminescence, and stress, others remain unexplained. This review examines these backgrounds, their possible origins, and parallels to low-energy effects in solids, an understanding of which is essential for interpreting particle interactions at and below the eV scale.

AB - Solid-state phonon and charge detectors probe the scattering of weakly interacting particles, such as dark matter and neutrinos, through their low recoil thresholds. Recent advancements have pushed sensitivity to eV-scale energy depositions, uncovering previously unseen low-energy excess backgrounds. While some arise from known processes such as thermal radiation, luminescence, and stress, others remain unexplained. This review examines these backgrounds, their possible origins, and parallels to low-energy effects in solids, an understanding of which is essential for interpreting particle interactions at and below the eV scale.

KW - coherent neutrino–nucleus scattering

KW - dark matter

KW - low-energy excess

KW - rare event searches

KW - solid-state detectors

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016810295

U2 - 10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849

DO - 10.1146/annurev-nucl-121423-100849

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105016810295

SN - 0163-8998

VL - 75

SP - 301

EP - 326

JO - Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science

JF - Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science

IS - 1

ER -

Low-Energy Backgrounds in Solid-State Phonon and Charge Detectors

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Keywords

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