Dr
Riccardo Cerulli
(INFN-LNGS)
10/06/2011, 14:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The DAMA/LIBRA set-up (about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) is
running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N..
It has already released the results obtained in 6 annual cycles;
the cumulative exposure with the one released by the former DAMA/NaI
is 1.17 ton × yr, corresponding to 13 annual cycles. The data further
confirm the model independent evidence for the...
Reina Maruyama
(University of Wisconsin, Madison)
10/06/2011, 14:30
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
I will describe DM-Ice, a direct detection dark matter experiment to be deployed at the South Pole co-located with the IceCube/DeepCore Neutrino Telescope. This experiment will use roughly 250 kg of low-background NaI detectors to search for the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation in the southern hemisphere where many of the environmental backgrounds associated with seasonal variations present in...
David Nygren
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
10/06/2011, 15:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The annual modulation signal observed by the DAMA-LIBRA Collaboration (D-L) is statistically strong and has been claimed by D-L as evidence for a dark matter signal. Lacking confirmation, an obligation endures to consider any plausible explanation based on conventional physics. The annual modulation may plausibly be explained as a consequence of energy deposited in the NaI(Tl) crystals by...
Dr
Henning Back
(Princeton University)
10/06/2011, 16:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
Argon is a powerful scintillator and an excellent medium for detection of ionization. Its high discrimination power against minimum ionization tracks, in favor of selection of nuclear recoils, makes it an attractive medium for direct detection of WIMP dark matter. However, cosmogenic 39Ar contamination in atmospheric argon limits the size of liquid argon dark matter detectors due to pile-up....
Dr
Victor Gehman
(Los Alamos National Laboraotory)
10/06/2011, 16:20
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
A large number of current and future experiments in neutrino and dark matter detection use the scintillation light from noble elements as a mechanism for measuring energy deposition. The scintillation light from these elements is produced in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range, from 60 - 200 nm. Currently, the most practical technique for observing light at these wavelengths is to surround...
Dr
Paolo Beltrame
(on behalf of the UCLA group)
10/06/2011, 16:40
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
Dark Matter direct detection requires extremely low background environment. Achieving the lowest possible contamination from the photodetectors is one of the most relevant challenge for such a background free measurements. For this purpose UCLA in collaboration with Hamamatsu Photonics has invented a novel photodetector concept called QUPID (Quartz Photon Intensifying Detector), based on the...
Dr
Ettore Segreto
(INFN)
10/06/2011, 17:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
A new generation, high Quantum Efficiency 3" photomultiplier tube (PMT) for
cryogenic applications at liquid Argon temperature (LAr, T=87 K) has been recently
developed by Hamamatsu Photonics (Mod. R11065). This issue is of interest in
particular for direct Dark Matter searches with detectors adopting liquified Argon
as nuclear targets for WIMP interactions and read-out of the...
Dr
Andrzej Szelc
(Yale University)
10/06/2011, 17:15
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
A new generation Waveform Digitizer board as been recently made available on the market by CAEN.
The new board CAEN V1751 with 8 Channel per board, dynamic range extended to 10-bit, 1 GS/s Flash ADC Waveform Digitizer (or 4-channel, 10 bit, 2 GS/s Flash ADC Waveform Digitizer - Dual Edge Sampling mode) with threshold and Auto-Trigger capabilities provides an ideal (relatively low-cost)...
Dr
Nicola Canci
(INFN-LNGS)
10/06/2011, 17:30
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
A high Light Yield Liquid Argon chamber has been radiated with an AmBe source to test the possible separation signal-to-background obtainable in a Dark Matter Liquid Argon based detector.
Apart from the standard nuclear recoil and electron events, from neutron elastic interactions and gamma conversions respectively, an intermediate population has been observed which is attributed to...
Dr
Ran Budnik
(Columbia university)
11/06/2011, 14:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The future prospect of dark matter detection lies in larger target masses and volumes, of which the next step is a ton scale. Liquefied noble gas detectors, such as Argon and Xenon, are relatively simple to scale up. However, the challenge of purifying the medium and drifting charges over lengths of about three times longer than previously done (about 1m), has never been overcome.
A test...
Mr
Adam Bradley
(Case Western Reserve University)
11/06/2011, 14:30
Oral Presentation
LUX is a new dark matter direct detection experiment being carried out at the Sanford Lab, the renewed underground facility at the Homestake mine in Lead, SD. The detector’s large size supports effective internal shielding from natural radioactivity of the surrounding materials and environment. The LUX detector consists of a cylindrical vessel containing 350 kg of liquid xenon (LXe) cooled...
Luke Goetzke
(Columbia University)
11/06/2011, 14:50
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The XENON dark matter experiments search for low-energy elastic scatters of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles off of Xe nuclei. For Xe targets and other noble liquids used in rare process searches, Kr contamination contributes background events through the beta decay of long-lived radioactive $^{85}$Kr. To achieve the sensitivity required of the next generation of dark matter detectors, the...
Dr
Cláudio Silva
(LIP Coimbra)
11/06/2011, 15:10
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
Liquid/gaseous Xenon detectors are extensively used in rare-event searches such as a double beta decay and dark matter experiments [1]. The response of these detectors is strongly dependent on the reflectance of the inner surfaces surrounding the active volume. Maximizing the reflectance of these surfaces is therefore paramount to increase the sensibility of the detector, especially in large...
Dr
Paul Brink
(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory/KIPAC)
11/06/2011, 16:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
Weakly Interacting Dark Matter (WIMP) interactions with ordinary matter are characterized by very low rates and extremely low energy depositions. A leading technique in dark matter detection is the use of cryogenic single-crystal Germanium (Ge) detectors that simultaneously measure the crystal lattice vibrations (phonons) and ionization produced by nuclear recoils. To increase the sensitivity...
Mr
Lukas Epprecht
(Institut for particle physics-ETH Zurich)
11/06/2011, 16:30
Oral Presentation
The ArDM experiment is a double phase argon TPC/calorimeter soon to be operated at LSC
(Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc, Spain). It's aim is the direct detection of weakly interacting
massive particles (WIMPs) by scintillation light and ionization charge.
In this talk we review the status of the project.
Dr
Matthew Szydagis
(UC Davis)
11/06/2011, 17:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The LUX (Large Underground Xenon) experiment will attempt to directly detect the WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle), or, in the case of no signal, produce improved, world-class limits on the WIMP-nucleon interaction cross-section. The detector is two-phase, utilizing an electric field to drift charge liberated by a recoil event in the liquid, producing additional scintillation in the...
Dr
Hugh Lippincott
(Fermilab)
11/06/2011, 17:30
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
COUPP is an experimental campaign with the goal of detecting dark matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) using continuously sensitive bubble chambers, operated under mildly superheated conditions. Recoils of dark matter particles off the target nuclei in the chamber would produce single, isolated bubbles, which are detectable both optically and acoustically. Under...
Natalie Harrison
(Fermilab)
13/06/2011, 14:00
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The R&D effort currently going on at Fermilab to investigate new applications of thick CCD detectors in particle physics is described. These application include : low threshold dark matter experiments, neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering, neutron imager and particle tracking.
John Orrell
(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
13/06/2011, 14:20
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The CoGeNT experiment located at the Soudan Underground Laboratory has reported an excess of events below an electron scattering equivalent of 1 keV. This result may be interpreted alternatively as either an unidentified background contribution or a signature of light-mass (5-10 GeV/c^2) weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. The initial CoGeNT results were produced using a...
Prof.
Vuk Mandic
(University of Minnesota)
13/06/2011, 14:40
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment is designed to search for Dark Matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). CDMS deploys semiconductor detectors, based on Ge or Si substrates with ionization and phonon sensors, which provide very effective event-by-event rejection of the dominant electromagnetic backgrounds. The detectors are operated at cryogenic...
Prof.
Vuk Mandic
(University of Minnesota)
13/06/2011, 15:10
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
Germanium detectors operated at temperatures of about 30 mK are commonly used for direct dark matter searches, in experiments such as CDMS or Edelweiss. Over the past decade, these detectors played a crucial role in improving the sensitivity of the searches for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. Recent detector design modifications have significantly improved the efficiency with which...
Mr
Francisco Jose Iguaz Gutierrez
(CEA - Centre d'Etudes de Saclay (CEA))
13/06/2011, 15:30
Dark Matter Detectors
Oral Presentation
The latest generation of Micromegas detectors show a good energy resolution, spatial resolution and low threshold, which make them idoneous in low energy applications. Two micromegas detectors have been built for dark matter experiments: CAST, which uses a dipole magnet to convert axion into detectable x-ray photons, and MIMAC, which aims to reconstruct the tracks of low energy nuclear recoils...
