Experimental Investigation of Dielectric Loss Induced Noise in Charge Detection Systems for Cosmic Dust

Abstract:
In this paper the influence of dielectric loss induced noise on a differential charge detection system for cosmic dust trajectory sensors is analyzed. For the sake of generality the distributed charge detector is replaced by compact capacitors with different dielectric materials. It is shown that for lowfrequency high-impedance systems the selection of very low loss dielectric materials is of crucial importance to minimize the overall noise charge of the system.