New data are reported from the operation of a 2 liter C3F8 bubble chamber in the SNOLAB underground laboratory, with a total exposure of 211.5 kg days at four different energy thresholds below 10 ...keV. These data show that C3F8 provides excellent electron-recoil and alpha rejection capabilities at very low thresholds. The chamber exhibits an electron-recoil sensitivity of <3.5×10(-10) and an alpha rejection factor of >98.2%. These data also include the first observation of a dependence of acoustic signal on alpha energy. Twelve single nuclear recoil event candidates were observed during the run. The candidate events exhibit timing characteristics that are not consistent with the hypothesis of a uniform time distribution, and no evidence for a dark matter signal is claimed. These data provide the most sensitive direct detection constraints on WIMP-proton spin-dependent scattering to date, with significant sensitivity at low WIMP masses for spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering.
Mechanically pressing the ends of a copper braid in solid copper is an effective way of constructing solderless conductive straps for cryogenic applications. In this paper we present thermal ...conductance data of such a copper strap measured using the two-heater one-thermometer method. The measurements span a wide temperature range of 0.13-10 K applicable to a variety of cryogenic systems employing liquid helium, pulse tube coolers, adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators, and others. Above ≈1.5 K, the braid thermal conductivity dominates the strap conductance resulting in a near-linear dependence with temperature. The variation with temperature below ≈1.5 K is near-quadratic indicating dominance of the pressed contact conductance at the strap ends. Electron-beam welding the braid to the strap ends is shown to be a promising solution for improving sub-Kelvin thermal conductance of the strap.
Operating 6,800 feet underground at the SNOLAB facility in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the dilution refrigerator-cooled SuperCDMS SNOLAB (Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search at the Sudbury Neutrino ...Observatory Laboratory) experiment has been designed for maximum cryogenic up-time and remote operations. A key element in achieving these goals is a pair cold traps in the helium circulation stream of the dilution refrigerator; the first operating near liquid nitrogen temperatures and the second operating near liquid helium temperatures. Previous experience with the CDMS experiment, located underground at the Soudan Under-ground Laboratory, has given significant operational experience with dilution refrigerator cold traps and has solidified the demand of a system of dual cold traps. Unlike the CDMS-era system, the new SuperCDMS system will feature a cryocooler powered liquid nitrogen re-liquefying system (as opposed to regular under-ground re-filling of cold trap dewars using portable nitrogen dewars) and a cryogen-free 4 K cold trap, which eliminates the need for a bath of liquid helium.
The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment is a direct detection dark matter experiment intended for deployment to the SNOLAB underground facility in Ontario, Canada. With a ...payload of up to 186 germanium and silicon crystal detectors operating below 15 mK, the cryogenic architecture of the experiment is complex. Further, the requirement that the cryostat presents a low radioactive background to the detectors limits the materials and techniques available for construction, and heavily influences the design of the cryogenics system. The resulting thermal architecture is a closed cycle (no liquid cryogen) system, with stages at 50 and 4 K cooled with gas and fluid circulation systems and stages at 1 K, 250 mK and 15 mK cooled by the lower temperature stages of a large, cryogen-free dilution refrigerator. This paper describes the thermal design of the experiment, including details of the cooling systems, mechanical designs and expected performance of the system under operational conditions.
•Joint thermal conductance across bolted copper to copper connections has been tested from 60mK to 26K.•Surfaces passivated with citric acid were tested as an alternative to gold plating.•Results of ...joint thermal conductance testing are well fitted with a power law regression.•These results correlate well with data obtained from a literature survey.
Joint thermal conductance testing has been undertaken for bolted copper to copper connections from 60mK to 26K. This testing was performed to validate an initial design basis for the SuperCDMS experiment, where a dilution refrigerator will be coupled to a cryostat via multiple bolted connections. Copper used during testing was either gold plated or passivated with citric acid to prevent surface oxidation. Results obtained are well fit by a power law regression of joint thermal conductance to temperature and match well with data collected during a literature review.
The detectors of the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment at SNOLAB (SuperCDMS SNOLAB) will operate in a seven-layered cryostat with thermal stages between room temperature and the base ...temperature of 15 mK. The inner three layers of the cryostat, which are to be nominally maintained at 1 K, 250 mK, and 15 mK, will be cooled by a dilution refrigerator via conduction through long copper stems. Bolted and mechanically pressed contacts, flat and cylindrical, as well as flexible straps are the essential stem components that will facilitate assembly/dismantling of the cryostat. These will also allow for thermal contractions/movements during cooldown of the sub-Kelvin system. To ensure that these components and their contacts meet their design thermal conductance, prototypes were fabricated and cryogenically tested. The present paper gives an overview of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB sub-Kelvin architecture and its conductance requirements. Results from the conductance measurements tests and from sub-Kelvin thermal modeling are discussed.
New data are reported from the operation of the PICO-60 dark matter detector, a bubble chamber filled with 36.8 kg of CF3I and located in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. PICO-60 is the largest ...bubble chamber to search for dark matter to date. With an analyzed exposure of 92.8 livedays, PICO-60 exhibits the same excellent background rejection observed in smaller bubble chambers. Alpha decays in PICO-60 exhibit frequency-dependent acoustic calorimetry, similar but not identical to that reported recently in a C3F8 bubble chamber. PICO-60 also observes a large population of unknown background events, exhibiting acoustic, spatial, and timing behaviors inconsistent with those expected from a dark matter signal. These behaviors allow for analysis cuts to remove all background events while retaining 48.2% of the exposure. Stringent limits on weakly interacting massive particles interacting via spin-dependent proton and spin-independent processes are set, and most interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA modulation signal as dark matter interacting with iodine nuclei are ruled out.
We report a first search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using the background rejection capabilities of SuperCDMS. An exposure of 577 kg days was analyzed for WIMPs with mass <30 ...GeV/c(2), with the signal region blinded. Eleven events were observed after unblinding. We set an upper limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section of 1.2×10(-42) cm(2) at 8 GeV/c(2). This result is in tension with WIMP interpretations of recent experiments and probes new parameter space for WIMP-nucleon scattering for WIMP masses <6 GeV/c(2).
New data are reported from a second run of the 2-liter PICO-2L C sub(3) F sub(8) bubble chamber with a total exposure of 129 kg-days at a thermodynamic threshold energy of 3.3 keV. These data show ...that measures taken to control particulate contamination in the superheated fluid resulted in the absence of the anomalous background events observed in the first run of this bubble chamber. One single nuclear-recoil event was observed in the data, consistent both with the predicted background rate from neutrons and with the observed rate of unambiguous multiple-bubble neutron scattering events. The chamber exhibits the same excellent electron-recoil and alpha decay rejection as was previously reported. These data provide the most stringent direct detection constraints on weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-proton spin-dependent scattering to date for WIMP masses <50GeV/c super(2).
•Thermal conductance of a solderless copper strap is measured between 0.13K and 10K.•Conductance near liquid helium temperatures and above varies near-linearly with temperature.•Sub-Kelvin ...conductance follows a near-quadratic power law with temperature.•Sub-Kelvin conductance is enhanced by electron-beam welding.
Mechanically pressing the ends of a copper braid in solid copper is an effective way of constructing solderless conductive straps for cryogenic applications. In this paper we present thermal conductance data of such a copper strap measured using the two-heater one-thermometer method. The measurements span a wide temperature range of 0.13–10K applicable to a variety of cryogenic systems employing liquid helium, pulse tube coolers, adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators, and others. Above ≈1.5K, the braid thermal conductivity dominates the strap conductance resulting in a near-linear dependence with temperature. The variation with temperature below ≈1.5K is near-quadratic indicating dominance of the pressed contact conductance at the strap ends. Electron-beam welding the braid to the strap ends is shown to be a promising solution for improving sub-Kelvin thermal conductance of the strap.
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