Update on the MiniCLEAN Dark Matter Experiment

Published

March 24, 2015

Author(s)

Kevin J. Coakley, K. Rielage, M. Akashi-Ronquest, M. Bodmer, R. Bourque, B. Buck, A. Butcher, T. Caldwell, Y. Chen, F. A. Duncan, E. Flores, J. A. Formaggio, D. Glaster, F. Giuliani, M. Gold, E. Grace, J. Griego, N. Guerrero, V. Guiseppe, R. Henning, A. Hime, S. Jaditz, C. Kachulis, E. Kearns, J. Kelsey, J. R. Klein, A. Latorre, I. Lawson, O. Li, P. Liimatainen, S. Linden, F. Lopez, K. McFarlane, D. N. McKinsey, S. MacMullin, A. Mastbaum, D.-M. Mei, J. Monroe, J. A. Nikkel, J. Oertel, G. D. Orebi Gann, K. Palladino, G. Perumpilly, L. Rodriguez, R. Schnee, S. Seibert, J. Walding, B. Wang, J. Wang, C. Zhang

Abstract

The direct search for dark matter is entering a period of increased sensitivity to the hypothetical Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP). One such technology that is being examined is a scintillationonly noble liquid experiment, MiniCLEAN. MiniCLEAN utilizes over 500 kg of liquid cryogen to detect nuclear recoils from WIMP dark matter and serves as a demonstration for a future detector of order 50 to 100 tonnes. The liquid cryogen is interchangeable between argon and neon to study the A² dependence of the potential signal and examine backgrounds. MiniCLEAN utilizes a unique modular design with spherical geometry to maximize the light yield using cold photomultiplier tubes in a single-phase detector. Pulse shape discrimination techniques are used to separate nuclear recoil signals from electron recoil backgrounds. MiniCLEAN will be spiked with additional ³⁹Ar to demonstrate the effective reach of the pulse shape discrimination capability. Assembly of the experiment is underway at SNOLAB and an update on the project is given.

Citation

Physics Procedia

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

dark matter, liquid argon, liquid neon, scintillation, WIMP, solar neutrinos

Citation

Coakley, K. , Rielage, K. , Akashi-Ronquest, M. , Bodmer, M. , Bourque, R. , Buck, B. , Butcher, A. , Caldwell, T. , Chen, Y. , Duncan, F. , Flores, E. , Formaggio, J. , Glaster, D. , Giuliani, F. , Gold, M. , Grace, E. , Griego, J. , Guerrero, N. , Guiseppe, V. , Henning, R. , Hime, A. , Jaditz, S. , Kachulis, C. , Kearns, E. , Kelsey, J. , Klein, J. , Latorre, A. , Lawson, I. , Li, O. , Liimatainen, P. , Linden, S. , Lopez, F. , McFarlane, K. , McKinsey, D. , MacMullin, S. , Mastbaum, A. , Mei, D. , Monroe, J. , Nikkel, J. , Oertel, J. , Orebi Gann, G. , Palladino, K. , Perumpilly, G. , Rodriguez, L. , Schnee, R. , Seibert, S. , Walding, J. , Wang, B. , Wang, J. and Zhang, C. (2015), Update on the MiniCLEAN Dark Matter Experiment, Physics Procedia, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=915681 (Accessed April 25, 2024)