General information
Organisation
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.
Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.
The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
Reference
SL-DRF-26-0051
Direction
DRF
Thesis topic details
Category
Corpuscular physics and outer space
Thesis topics
The MINI-BINGO demonstrator: advancing the quest to unveil the neutrino nature
Contract
Thèse
Job description
BINGO is an innovative neutrino physics project designed to lay the groundwork for a large-scale bolometric experiment dedicated to the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The goal is to achieve an extremely low background index—on the order of 10^-5 counts/(keV·kg·yr)—while delivering excellent energy resolution in the region of interest. These performance levels will enable the exploration of lepton number violation with unprecedented sensitivity.
The project relies on scintillating bolometers, which are particularly effective at rejecting the dominant background caused by surface alpha particles. It focuses on two highly promising isotopes, 100Mo and 130Te, whose complementary properties make them both strong candidates for future large-scale investigations.
BINGO introduces three major innovations to the well-established heat-light hybrid bolometer technology. First, the sensitivity of the light detectors will be enhanced by an order of magnitude through the use of Neganov-Luke amplification. Second, a novel detector assembly design will reduce surface radioactivity contributions by at least an order of magnitude. Third, and for the first time in a macrobolometer array, an internal active shield made of ultrapure BGO scintillators with bolometric light readout will be implemented to suppress external gamma background.
As part of this thesis work, the student will take part in the assembly and installation of the MINI-BINGO demonstrator within the cryostat recently installed at the Modane Underground Laboratory. He/she will be involved in data acquisition and analysis, and will contribute to evaluating the final background rejection enabled by the performance of the detector's final configuration.
University / doctoral school
PHENIICS (PHENIICS)
Paris-Saclay
Thesis topic location
Site
Saclay
Requester
Position start date
01/10/2026
Person to be contacted by the applicant
Nones Claudia
claudia.nones@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFU
Bat.141 - Pce 41A
Tutor / Responsible thesis director
Nones Claudia
claudia.nones@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFU
Bat.141 - Pce 41A
En savoir plus
www.bingo-neutrino.eu