A. Kavner

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

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J. Molina

Universidad Nacional de Asunción

J. Tiffenberg

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

B. Kilminster

University of Zurich

Federico Izraelevitch

National University of General San Martín

Gustavo Cancelo

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Guillermo Fernández Moroni

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo

Universidad Intercontinental

X. Bertou

Balseiro Institute

M. Sofo Haro

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Juan Carlos D’Olivo

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Cooperative Institutions

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

University of Chicago

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

University of California, Berkeley

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

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The DAMIC dark matter experiment

arXiv (Cornell University) (2015)

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo D. Amidei X. Bertou D G Bole Melissa Butner

The DAMIC (Dark Matter in CCDs) experiment uses high resistivity, scientific grade CCDs to search for dark matter. The CCD's low electronic noise allows an unprecedently low energy threshold of a few tens of eV that make it possible to detect silicon recoils resulting from interactions of low mass WIMPs. In addition the CCD's high spatial resolution and the excellent energy response results in very effective background identification techniques. The experiment has a unique sensitivity to dark matter particles with masses below 10 GeV/c$^2$. Previous results have demonstrated the potential of this technology, motivating the construction of DAMIC100, a 100 grams silicon target detector currently being installed at SNOLAB. In this contribution, the mode of operation and unique imaging capabilities of the CCDs, and how they may be exploited to characterize and suppress backgrounds will be discussed, as well as physics results after one year of data taking.

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First results from a search for coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering at a reactor site

Physical review. D/Physical review. D. (2021)

J. Colaresi J. I. Collar T. W. Hossbach A. Kavner C. M. Lewis

The deployment of a low-noise 3 kg p-type point contact germanium detector at the Dresden-II power reactor, 8 meters from its 2.96 GW$_{th}$ core, is described. This location provides an unprecedented (anti)neutrino flux of 8.1$\times 10^{13} ~\bar{\nu_{e}}/$cm$^{2}$s. When combined with the 0.2 keV$_{ee}$ detector threshold achieved, a first measurement of CE$\nu$NS from a reactor source appears to be within reach. We report on the characterization and abatement of backgrounds during initial runs, deriving improved limits on extensions of the Standard Model involving a light vector mediator, from preliminary data.

10.1103/physrevd.104.072003

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Measurement of radioactive contamination in the CCD’s of the DAMIC experiment

Journal of Physics Conference Series (2016)

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo D. Amidei X. Bertou D G Bole Melissa Butner

DAMIC (Dark Matter in CCDs) is an experiment searching for dark matter particles employing fully-depleted charge-coupled devices. Using the bulk silicon which composes the detector as target, we expect to observe coherent WIMP-nucleus elastic scattering. Although located in the SNOLAB laboratory, 2 km below the surface, the CCDs are not completely free of radioactive contamination, in particular coming from radon daughters or from the detector itself. We present novel techniques for the measurement of the radioactive contamination in the bulk silicon and on the surface of DAMIC CCDs. Limits on the Uranium and Thorium contamination as well as on the cosmogenic isotope 32 Si, intrinsically present on the detector, were performed. We have obtained upper limits on the 238 TJ (232 Th) decay rate of 5 (15) kg_1 d_1 at 95% CL. Pairs of spatially correlated electron tracks expected from 32 Si-32 P and 210 Pb-210 Bi beta decays were also measured. We have found a decay rate of 80+l10 -65 kg_1 d_1 for 32 Si and an upper limit of - 35 kg-1 d-1 for 210 Pb, both at 95% CL.

WIMP

Semiconductor detector

10.1088/1742-6596/718/4/042057

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Measurement of radioactive contamination in the high-resistivity silicon CCDs of the DAMIC experiment

Journal of Instrumentation (2015)

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo D. Amidei X. Bertou D G Bole Melissa Butner

We present measurements of radioactive contamination in the high-resistivity silicon charge-coupled devices (CCDs) used by the DAMIC experiment to search for dark matter particles. Novel analysis methods, which exploit the unique spatial resolution of CCDs, were developed to identify $\alpha$ and $\beta$ particles. Uranium and thorium contamination in the CCD bulk was measured through $\alpha$ spectroscopy, with an upper limit on the $^{238}$U ($^{232}$Th) decay rate of 5 (15) kg$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$ at 95% CL. We also searched for pairs of spatially correlated electron tracks separated in time by up to tens of days, as expected from $^{32}$Si-$^{32}$P or $^{210}$Pb-$^{210}$Bi sequences of $\beta$ decays. The decay rate of $^{32}$Si was found to be $80^{+110}_{-65}$ kg$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$ (95% CI). An upper limit of $\sim$35 kg$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$ (95% CL) on the $^{210}$Pb decay rate was obtained independently by $\alpha$ spectroscopy and the $\beta$ decay sequence search. These levels of radioactive contamination are sufficiently low for the successful operation of CCDs in the forthcoming 100 g DAMIC detector.

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Beta decay

Gamma Spectroscopy

10.1088/1748-0221/10/08/p08014

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Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering at the European Spallation Source

Journal of High Energy Physics (2020)

D. Baxter J. I. Collar Pilar Coloma C. E. Dahl Ivan Esteban

The European Spallation Source (ESS), presently well on its way to completion, will soon provide the most intense neutron beams for multi-disciplinary science. Fortuitously, it will also generate the largest pulsed neutrino flux suitable for the detection of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE$\nu$NS), a process recently measured for the first time at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source. We describe innovative detector technologies maximally able to profit from the order-of-magnitude increase in neutrino flux provided by the ESS, along with their sensitivity to a rich particle physics phenomenology accessible through high-statistics, precision CE$\nu$NS measurements.

Spallation Neutron Source

10.1007/jhep02(2020)123

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Measurement of Ionization Produced by 254 eVnr Nuclear Recoils in Germanium

arXiv (Cornell University) (2024)

A. Kavner Igor Jovanovic

The ionization or scintillation produced by low-energy nuclear recoils is the primary signature of dark matter. Despite the urgency of dark matter detection and the recent measurements of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering, detector response is still not well characterized across a variety of materials in the keVnr and sub-keVnr regime. We have re-performed a measurement of the ionization produced by monoenergetic 254 eVnr nuclear recoils in Ge with improved digital electronics and event tagging scheme. Our results indicate an ionization yield of 66 +/- 5 eVee corresponding to a quenching factor of 25 +/- 2 %, greater than the 14 % predicted by Lindhard Model. This quenching enhancement would greatly improve the sensitivity of high-purity Ge detectors for both dark matter detection and measurement of neutrinos via coherent scattering.

Semiconductor detector

10.48550/arxiv.2405.10405

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Germanium response to sub-keV nuclear recoils: A multipronged experimental characterization

Physical review. D/Physical review. D. (2021)

J. I. Collar A. Kavner C. M. Lewis

To properly interpret scintillation data produced by nuclear recoils (NR), one requires knowledge of so-called quenching factors that relate the observed energy to electron recoils of the same kinetic energy. An accurate understanding of QFs is essential to make sense of the data. In the present paper, the authors report on an ambitious and painstaking experimental determination of QFs for germanium, a material widely used in dark matter and neutrino experiments. The study finds significant deviations from the predictions of the most popular theoretical model used to compute QFs, illustrating the importance of this work.

Characterization

10.1103/physrevd.103.122003

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Results of the engineering run of the Coherent Neutrino Nucleus Interaction Experiment (CONNIE)

Journal of Instrumentation (2016)

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo X. Bertou C. Bonifazi Melissa Butner Gustavo Cancelo

The CONNIE detector prototype is operating at a distance of 30 m from the core of a 3.8 GW$_{\rm th}$ 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 for 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 {\it 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$^-$ 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.

Semiconductor detector

10.1088/1748-0221/11/07/p07024

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A stratified layer of light elements at the top of the outer core

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (2010)

W. F. McDonough B. A. Buffett Vernon F. Cormier Sanne Cottaar Elizabeth Day

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A New Bite Into Dark Matter with the SNSPD-Based QROCODILE Experiment

arXiv (Cornell University) (2024)

L. Baudis A. Bismark Natacha Brügger C. Capelli Ilya Charaev

We present the first results from the Quantum Resolution-Optimized Cryogenic Observatory for Dark matter Incident at Low Energy (QROCODILE). The QROCODILE experiment uses a microwire-based superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) as a target and sensor for dark matter scattering and absorption, and is sensitive to energy deposits as low as 0.11 eV. We introduce the experimental configuration and report new world-leading constraints on the interactions of sub-MeV dark matter particles with masses as low as 30 keV. The thin-layer geometry of the system provides anisotropy in the interaction rate, enabling directional sensitivity. In addition, we leverage the coupling between phonons and quasiparticles in the detector to simultaneously constrain interactions with both electrons and nucleons. We discuss the potential for improvements to both the energy threshold and effective volume of the experiment in the coming years.

10.48550/arxiv.2412.16279

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