South Dakota Mines Receives $2 million to Advance Germanium Technologies

South Dakota Mines is leading critical components of a statewide initiative advancing germanium-based technologies for both fundamental physics and medical imaging. The university’s $2 million award is part of the larger $7 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR RII E-RISE grant that launched the Germanium-based Science and Technology Advancement Research (Ge-STAR).

The University of South Dakota-led project seeks to position South Dakota as a national leader in germanium science and technology by combining advanced artificial intelligence (AI) with germanium crystal growth, detector development and emerging applications in physics and medicine.

Germanium is a chemical element found in the Earth's crust and is similar in nature to silicon. In its crystalline form, it serves as a vital semiconductor material used in electronics and plays a key role in developing advanced radiation detectors—critical tools for dark matter search and neutrino physics as well as precision medical imaging.

With $2 million in NSF support, the Mines team will lead laboratory testing and characterization of germanium strip detectors, develop advanced Monte Carlo models and AI-driven analysis tools to optimize detector response and imaging performance.

“High-purity germanium detectors offer ultra-low noise, low energy detection threshold and excellent energy resolution,” said Xinhua Bai, Ph.D., Mines professor of physics and the principal investigator for the grant. “These traits are exactly what is needed to look for rare signals from hypothetic dark matter particles or low-energy neutrinos.”

Building on the advanced data expertise gained through a previous NSF EPSCoR RII FEC project led by Bai, the Mines team will also help develop a dedicated data system  to identify rare event signals and amplify charge within germanium crystals, making these detectors significantly more sensitive. By leveraging AI and machine learning on high-quality data, the Ge-STAR collaboration aims to enhance germanium crystal growth, improve image reconstruction and speed up detector development.

“The outcomes of this project will not only help increase the sensitivity of next-generation dark matter and neutrino experiments but also advance precision imaging and diagnosis for radiation medicine,” said Matthias Plum, Ph.D., Mines assistant professor of physics and a co-principal investigator for the grant.

Intra-jurisdictional collaboration across the state is a key part of the NSF EPSCoR E-RISE program’s strategy to strengthen and expand a competitive research ecosystem. The four-year project brings together a strong consortium of six South Dakota institutions – University of South Dakota, Mines, South Dakota State University, Dakota State University, Black Hills State University and Mount Marty University – working alongside major health care partners.

“Each institution has its own unique advantages,” Bai said. “To address the unusual challenges in the multidisciplinary research, we will integrate our research and development with partners through shared testbeds, a common data library, joint design and performance reviews, and workforce development.”

This collaboration offers Mines students unparalleled hands-on experience in materials science, detector testing and modeling, data science and biomedical applications. Students will have access to shared lab and software resources, work directly with statewide partners, and participate in underground testing at the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

These opportunities will prepare Mines graduates for careers in experimental physics, materials science, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, while establishing South Dakota’s position as a national leader in precision sensing and intelligent imaging technologies

“Ge-STAR is an incredibly exciting project rooted in South Dakota. The success of it will allow Mines to bring additional economic and industrial impact to the Black Hills region, which not only hosts world-class fundamental research experiments at SURF, but also has a wide range of medical diagnostic and treatment needs,” Bai said. “I hope that as the prototype detectors and analysis tools mature into deployable systems, the region can benefit even more from startup formation, industry collaborations and high-tech workforce growth in South Dakota’s strategic sectors.”