Development of a Navigator and Imaging Techniques for Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Detectors

Abstract

This project develops an imaging/navigational tool to assist in detecting flaws in the germanium detectors for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment. After imaging the detector surface with a precise imaging and measuring device, software was developed to stitch the resulting images together, applying any necessary rotations, offsets, and averaging to produce a smooth image of the whole detector. These images are tiled appropriately for the Google Maps API to use as a navigation tool, allowing inspectors to smoothly zoom and pan across the detector surface and detect flaws on the surface of the detector. Automated defect identification can then be implemented, increasing the scalability of the germanium detector fabrication. Increasing the ability to efficiently identify flaws in detectors takes the CDMS experiment closer to the objective of detecting dark matter directly.