Superheated superconducting granules: a multi-target calorimeter for dark - matter detection

A detailed study of the avalanche effect shows a possible way to overcome the main difficulty of superheated superconducting granules (SSG) devices for dark matter detection i.e. the absence of energy resolution. Using a suitable dielectric material, a discussion of heat exchanges in SSG detectors leads to the concept of 'localized micro-avalanche', where several granules flip for the recoil of a single nucleus. The signal is thus amplified and becomes energy dependent. Since heat can be transferred from the dielectric to the granules, hydrogen nuclei from the dielectric provide an interesting target. A larger domain of WIMP masses can thus be scanned with a single detector