Quenching factor for alpha particles in ZnSe scintillating bolometers

In the framework of the CUPID-0 experiment, a numbers of ZnSe single crystals were produced and subjected to different thermal treatments, and later tested as cryogenic scintillating bolometers. We have found that a specific thermal treatment (24 hours under argon atmosphere at 900 °C) has a strong impact on some properties of ZnSe crystals (amplitude of signal, light yield, specific resistivity) and most interestingly, changes the quenching factor for alpha particles from values > 1 to values < 1. Thus such thermal treatment opens the possibility to modify this experimental parameter for a various applications. (paper)