Speaker
Description
Detecting dark matter particles is one of the most exciting experimental challenges in modern astroparticle physics. Despite many naturally motivated theoretical models for light dark matter, a large part of the parameter space for spin-independent scattering off nuclei remains untested for dark matter particles with masses below few GeV/c^{2}. The CRESST-III experiment (Cryogenic Rare Events Search with Superconducting Thermometers), located at the underground facility Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, uses detectors designed to probe the dark matter low-mass region of the parameter space with a sensitivity never achieved before.
The CRESST-III experiment employs scintillating CaWO_{4} crystals as target material for dark matter interaction. Each detector consists of one ~25 g CaWO_{4} crystal coupled with a smaller crystal made of Silicon-On-Sapphire for the detection of the scintillating light. Both crystals are equipped with Transition Edge Sensors (TES) and operated as cryogenic calorimeters down to temperatures of ~10 mK. The double read-out of scintillating light and total energy deposition allows an event-by-event particle identification, which is used for background suppression.
CRESST-III, whose Phase 1 started data taking in August 2016, extends further the reach of a direct search to the sub-GeV/c^{2} mass region.
In this contribution the achievements of the CRESST-III will be discussed focusing on the latest results and the perspectives of future stages of the experiment.
