We present constraints on the existence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) from an 11 kg d target exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. The observed ...energy spectrum and spatial distribution of ionization events with electron-equivalent energies >200 eV_{ee} in the DAMIC CCDs are consistent with backgrounds from natural radioactivity. An excess of ionization events is observed above the analysis threshold of 50 eV_{ee}. While the origin of this low-energy excess requires further investigation, our data exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross sections σ_{χ-n} as low as 3×10^{-41} cm^{2} for WIMPs with masses m_{χ} from 7 to 10 GeV c^{-2}. These results are the strongest constraints from a silicon target on the existence of WIMPs with m_{χ}<9 GeV c^{-2} and are directly relevant to any dark matter interpretation of the excess of nuclear-recoil events observed by the CDMS silicon experiment in 2013.
We construct the first comprehensive radioactive background model for a dark matter search with charge-coupled devices (CCDs). We leverage the well-characterized depth and energy resolution of the ...DAMIC at SNOLAB detector and a detailed geant4-based particle-transport simulation to model both bulk and surface backgrounds from natural radioactivity down to 50 eVee . We fit to the energy and depth distributions of the observed ionization events to differentiate and constrain possible background sources, for example, bulk H 3 from silicon cosmogenic activation and surface Pb210 from radon plate-out. We observe the bulk background rate of the DAMIC at SNOLAB CCDs to be as low as 3.1±0.6 countskg-1day-1 keVee-1 , making it the most sensitive silicon dark matter detector. Finally, we discuss the properties of a statistically significant excess of events over the background model with energies below 200 eVee .
The CONNIE detector prototype is operating at a distance of 30 m from the core of a 3.8 GW sub(th) nuclear reactor with the goal of establishing Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) as a new technology for ...the detection of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. We report on the results of the engineering run with an active mass of 4 g of silicon. The CCD array is described, and the performance observed during the first year is discussed. A compact passive shield was deployed around the detector, producing an order of magnitude reduction in the background rate. The remaining background observed during the run was stable, and dominated by internal contamination in the detector packaging materials. The in-situ calibration of the detector using X-ray lines from fluorescence demonstrates good stability of the readout system. The event rates with the reactor ON and OFF are compared, and no excess is observed coming from nuclear fission at the power plant. The upper limit for the neutrino event rate is set two orders of magnitude above the expectations for the standard model. The results demonstrate the cryogenic CCD-based detector can be remotely operated at the reactor site with stable noise below 2 e super(-) RMS and stable background rates. The success of the engineering test provides a clear path for the upgraded 100 g detector to be deployed during 2016.
Abstract
We present a new instrument composed of a large number of
sub-electron noise Skipper-CCDs operated with a two stage analog
multiplexed readout scheme suitable for scaling to thousands of
...channels. New, thick, 1.35 Mpix sensors, from a new foundry, are
glued into a Multi-Chip Module (MCM) printed circuit board on a
ceramic substrate which has 16 sensors each. The instrument, that
can hold up-to 16 MCMs, a total of 256 Skipper-CCD sensors (called a
Super-Module with ≈ 130 grams of active mass and
346 Mpix), is part of the R&D effort of the OSCURA experiment
which will have ≈ 94 super-modules. Experimental results
with 10 MCMs and 160 Skipper-CCDs sensors are presented in this
paper. This is already the largest ever built instrument with single
electron sensitivity CCDs using nondestructive readout, both, in
terms of active mass and number of channels.
Abstract
We present measurements of bulk radiocontaminants in the high-resistivity silicon CCDs from the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB. We utilize the exquisite spatial resolution of CCDs to ...discriminate between α and β decays, and to search with high efficiency for the spatially-correlated decays of various radioisotope sequences. Using spatially-correlated β decays, we measure a bulk radioactive contamination of
32
Si in the CCDs of 140 ± 30 μBq/kg, and place an upper limit on bulk
210
Pb of < 160 μBq/kg. Using similar analyses of spatially-correlated α and β decays, we set upper limits of < 11 μBq/kg (0.9 ppt) on
238
U and < 7.3 μBq/kg (1.8 ppt) on
232
Th in the bulk silicon. The ability of DAMIC CCDs to identify and reject spatially-coincident backgrounds, particularly from
32
Si, has significant implications for the next generation of silicon-based dark matter experiments, where β's from
32
Si decay will likely be a dominant background.
The CONNIE experiment Aguilar-Arevalo, A.; Bertou, X.; Bonifazi, C. ...
Journal of physics. Conference series,
10/2016, Letnik:
761, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The CONNIE experiment uses fully depleted, high resistivity CCDs as particle detectors in an attempt to measure for the first time the Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Elastic Scattering of antineutrinos ...from a nuclear reactor with silicon nuclei. This talk, given at the XV Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields (MWPF), discussed the potential of CONNIE to perform this measurement, the installation progress at the Angra dos Reis nuclear power plant, as well as the plans for future upgrades.
We present results of a dark matter search performed with a 0.6 kg d exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. We measure the energy spectrum of ionization events in the ...bulk silicon of charge-coupled devices down to a signal of 60 eV electron equivalent. The data are consistent with radiogenic backgrounds, and constraints on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section are accordingly placed. A region of parameter space relevant to the potential signal from the CDMS-II Si experiment is excluded using the same target for the first time. This result obtained with a limited exposure demonstrates the potential to explore the low-mass WIMP region (<10 GeV c−2) with the upcoming DAMIC100, a 100 g detector currently being installed in SNOLAB.
We report direct-detection constraints on light dark matter particles interacting with electrons. The results are based on a method that exploits the extremely low levels of leakage current of the ...DAMIC detector at SNOLAB of 2–6×10−22 A cm−2. We evaluate the charge distribution of pixels that collect <10e− for contributions beyond the leakage current that may be attributed to dark matter interactions. Constraints are placed on so-far unexplored parameter space for dark matter masses between 0.6 and 100 MeV c−2. We also present new constraints on hidden-photon dark matter with masses in the range 1.2–30 eV c−2.
Skipper-CCDs: Current applications and future Cervantes-Vergara, B.A.; Perez, S.; D’Olivo, J.C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
01/2023, Letnik:
1046
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This work briefly discusses the potential applications of the Skipper-CCD technology in astronomy and reviews its current use in dark matter and neutrino experiments. An overview of the ongoing ...efforts to build multi-kilogram experiments with these sensors is given, in the context of the Oscura experiment. First results from the characterization of Oscura sensors from the first 200 mm wafer-fabrication run with a new vendor are presented. The overall yield of the electron counting capability of these sensors is 71%. A noise of 0.087 e− RMS, with 1225 samples/pix, and a dark current of (0.031±0.013) e−/pix/day at 140 K were measured.
We present direct detection constraints on the absorption of hidden-photon dark matter with particle masses in the range 1.2-30 eV c^{-2} with the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB. Under the assumption ...that the local dark matter is entirely constituted of hidden photons, the sensitivity to the kinetic mixing parameter κ is competitive with constraints from solar emission, reaching a minimum value of 2.2×10^{-14} at 17 eV c^{-2}. These results are the most stringent direct detection constraints on hidden-photon dark matter in the galactic halo with masses 3-12 eV c^{-2} and the first demonstration of direct experimental sensitivity to ionization signals <12 eV from dark matter interactions.
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