QuIPS experiment

QuIPS (Quantum Invisible Particle Sensor) is a project joint between Berkeley and the Moore lab at Yale. We are using quantum-limited optical traps and state-of-the-art electron detectors to measure individual nuclear decay events. This technique can be used to search for new particles, make precision measurements of the beta decay spectrum, and many other fundamental tasks in nuclear and particle physics.

Key publications:

D. Carney, K. Leach, D. C. Moore, Searches for massive neutrinos with mechanical quantum sensors, PRX Quantum 2023
T.-C. Lee, J. Beckey, G. Marocco, D. Carney, Impulse measurements enhanced with squeezed readout light, Phys. Rev. Res. 2025

Working principle

A laser field (red) is used to optically levitate ~100nm-scale silica beads, which are doped with radioisotopes. When a decay occurs (here shown as a beta decay, inset), the daughter nucleus remains trapped and kicks the sphere, while other secondaries like electrons and neutrinos escape. We then detect the recoil momentum of the sphere with the laser and the momentum of the visible secondary particles with our calorimeter. Putting this information together with momentum conservation, we then infer the presence and momentum of any "invisible" particles, like the neutrino shown here.

Electron detector

Our custom electron pixel detector, designed and built at Berkeley Lab, detects electrons with energies 100 keV-10 MeV and few-micron spatial resolution. The detector consists of two parallel planes of 10-um thick CMOS planes and a backing scintillator (not shown).

Berkeley Lab QuIPS team

From left to right

Front row: Kaelani Adcock, Peter Sorensen, Ben Kneper, Miao Hu, Azirel Goldschmidt

Back row: Giacomo Marocco, Maurice Garcia-Sciveres, Daniel Kodroff, Tim Villabona, Rebecca Carney, Daniel Carney (no relation!)

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