The CRESST-II experiment uses cryogenic detectors to search for nuclear recoil events induced by the elastic scattering of dark matter particles in CaWO
4
crystals. Given the low energy threshold of ...our detectors in combination with light target nuclei, low mass dark matter particles can be probed with high sensitivity. In this letter we present the results from data of a single detector module corresponding to 52 kg live days. A blind analysis is carried out. With an energy threshold for nuclear recoils of 307 eV we substantially enhance the sensitivity for light dark matter. Thereby, we extend the reach of direct dark matter experiments to the sub- GeV/
c
2
region and demonstrate that the energy threshold is the key parameter in the search for low mass dark matter particles.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The CRESST-II cryogenic Dark Matter search, aiming at detection of WIMPs via elastic scattering off nuclei in CaWO
4
crystals, completed 730 kg days of data taking in 2011. We present the data ...collected with eight detector modules, each with a two-channel readout; one for a phonon signal and the other for coincidently produced scintillation light. The former provides a precise measure of the energy deposited by an interaction, and the ratio of scintillation light to deposited energy can be used to discriminate different types of interacting particles and thus to distinguish possible signal events from the dominant backgrounds.
Sixty-seven events are found in the acceptance region where a WIMP signal in the form of low energy nuclear recoils would be expected. We estimate background contributions to this observation from four sources: (1) “leakage” from the
e
/
γ
-band (2) “leakage” from the
α
-particle band (3) neutrons and (4)
206
Pb recoils from
210
Po decay. Using a maximum likelihood analysis, we find, at a statistical significance of more than 4
σ
, that these sources alone are not sufficient to explain the data. The addition of a signal due to scattering of relatively light WIMPs could account for this discrepancy, and we determine the associated WIMP parameters.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The scintillation light output of a pure and a Thallium doped Sodium Iodide (NaI) crystal under irradiation with 5.486 MeV
α
particles has been measured over a temperature range from 1.7 K to 300 K. ...Estimates of the decay time constant at three selected temperatures are given. For pure NaI an increase in light yield towards low temperatures could be confirmed and measured at higher precision. For NaI(Tl) below 60 K an increase in light output has been found.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present 3D calculations for dielectric haloscopes such as the currently envisioned MADMAX experiment. For ideal systems with perfectly flat, parallel and isotropic dielectric disks of finite ...diameter, we find that a geometrical form factor reduces the emitted power by up to 30 % compared to earlier 1D calculations. We derive the emitted beam shape, which is important for antenna design. We show that realistic dark matter axion velocities of 10-3 c and inhomogeneities of the external magnetic field at the scale of 10 % have negligible impact on the sensitivity of MADMAX. We investigate design requirements for which the emitted power changes by less than 20 % for a benchmark boost factor with a bandwidth of 50 MHz at 22 GHz, corresponding to an axion mass of 90 μ eV. We find that the maximum allowed disk tilt is 100 μ m divided by the disk diameter, the required disk planarity is 20 μ m (min-to-max) or better, and the maximum allowed surface roughness is 100 μ m (min-to-max). We show how using tiled dielectric disks glued together from multiple smaller patches can affect the beam shape and antenna coupling.
Scintillating CaWO
4
single crystals are a promising multi-element target for rare-event searches and are currently used in the direct dark matter experiment CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with ...Superconducting Thermometers). The relative light output of different particle interactions in CaWO
4
is quantified by quenching factors (QFs). These are essential for an active background discrimination and the identification of a possible signal induced by weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). We present the first precise measurements of the QFs of O, Ca and W at mK temperatures by irradiating a cryogenic detector with a fast neutron beam. A clear energy dependence of the QF of O and, less pronounced, of Ca was observed for the first time. Furthermore, in CRESST neutron-calibration data a variation of the QFs among different CaWO
4
single crystals was found. For typical CRESST detectors the QFs in the region-of-interest (10–40 keV) are
QF
O
ROI
=
(
11.2
±
0.5
)
%,
QF
Ca
ROI
=
(
5.94
±
0.49
)
% and
QF
W
ROI
=
(
1.72
±
0.21
)
%. The latest CRESST data (run32) is reanalyzed using these fundamentally new results on light quenching in CaWO
4
having moderate influence on the WIMP analysis. Their relevance for future CRESST runs and for the clarification of previously published results of direct dark matter experiments is emphasised.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract The axion emerges in extensions of the Standard Model that explain the absence of CP violation in the strong interactions. Simultaneously, it can provide naturally the cold dark matter in ...our universe. Several searches for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) have constrained the corresponding parameter space over the last decades but no unambiguous hints of their existence have been found. The axion mass range below 1 meV remains highly attractive and a well motivated region for dark matter axions. In this White Paper we present a description of a new experiment based on the concept of a dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400 $$\upmu \hbox {eV}$$ μeV . This MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX) will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 to 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The CRESST-III low-mass WIMP detector Strauss, R; Angloher, G; Bento, A ...
Journal of physics. Conference series,
05/2016, Letnik:
718, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The next generation direct dark matter experiment CRESST-III has a high potential to significantly increase the sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs (mx ≲10GeV/c2). We present the new CRESST detector ...module: it consists of a 24 g CaWO4 crystal operated as a phonon detector and a 20×20 mm2 silicon-on-sapphire light detector. The phonon energy threshold is lowered to ~100eV and a light detector resolution of typically 5eV is achieved. A fully-scintillating inner detector housing is realised which efficiently rejects events from surface-alpha decays. The CaWO4 sticks holding the target crystal are also operated as calorimeters to discriminate all possible artefacts related to the support structure. A projection for the sensitivity to spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering is given for the first phase of CRESST-III which will start beginning of 2016.
The axion emerges in extensions of the Standard Model that explain the absence of CP violation in the strong interactions. Simultaneously, it can provide naturally the cold dark matter in our ...universe. Several searches for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) have constrained the corresponding parameter space over the last decades but no unambiguous hints of their existence have been found. The axion mass range below 1 meV remains highly attractive and a well motivated region for dark matter axions. In this White Paper we present a description of a new experiment based on the concept of a dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400
μ
eV
. This MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX) will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 to 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an Earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on ...a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this paper we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016–02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1 eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6 g CaWO4 crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon (heat) signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at ∼15 mK. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as 160 MeV/c2.
Models for light dark matter particles with masses below 1 GeV/c
2
are a natural and well-motivated alternative to so-far unobserved weakly interacting massive particles. Gram-scale cryogenic ...calorimeters provide the required detector performance to detect these particles and extend the direct dark matter search program of CRESST. A prototype 0.5 g sapphire detector developed for the
ν
-cleus experiment has achieved an energy threshold of
E
t
h
=
(
19.7
±
0.9
)
eV. This is one order of magnitude lower than for previous devices and independent of the type of particle interaction. The result presented here is obtained in a setup above ground without significant shielding against ambient and cosmogenic radiation. Although operated in a high-background environment, the detector probes a new range of light-mass dark matter particles previously not accessible by direct searches. We report the first limit on the spin-independent dark matter particle-nucleon cross section for masses between 140 and 500 MeV/c
2
.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK