69 research outputs found
Light dark matter search with CRESST-III
The CRESST experiment uses CaWO4 crystals operated as cryogenic detectors to search for nuclear recoil events induced by elastic scattering of dark matter particles. Results of CRESST-II have shown that a low energy threshold and the presence of light nuclei are key parameters for probing low-mass dark matter particles with high sensitivity. We present results of our last measurement campaign and how these have driven the R&D for the next CRESST-III experiment
First bolometric measurement of the two neutrino double beta decay of Mo with a ZnMoO crystals array
The large statistics collected during the operation of a ZnMoO array, for
a total exposure of 1.3 kg day of Mo, allowed the first
bolometric observation of the two neutrino double beta decay of Mo. The
observed spectrum of each crystal was reconstructed taking into account the
different background contributions due to environmental radioactivity and
internal contamination. The analysis of coincidences between the crystals
allowed the assignment of constraints to the intensity of the different
background sources, resulting in a reconstruction of the measured spectrum down
to an energy of 300 keV. The half-life extracted from the data is
T= [7.15 0.37 (stat) 0.66 (syst)] 10
y.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure, Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G:
Nuclear and Particle Physic
Dark-Photon Search using Data from CRESST-II Phase 2
Identifying the nature and origin of dark matter is one of the major
challenges for modern astro and particle physics. Direct dark-matter searches
aim at an observation of dark-matter particles interacting within detectors.
The focus of several such searches is on interactions with nuclei as provided
e.g. by Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. However, there is a variety of
dark-matter candidates favoring interactions with electrons rather than with
nuclei. One example are dark photons, i.e., long-lived vector particles with a
kinetic mixing to standard-model photons. In this work we present constraints
on this kinetic mixing based on data from CRESST-II Phase 2 corresponding to an
exposure before cuts of 52\,kg-days. These constraints improve the existing
ones for dark-photon masses between 0.3 and 0.7\,keV/c.Comment: submitted EPJ
Results on light dark matter particles with a low-threshold CRESST-II detector
The CRESST-II experiment uses cryogenic detectors to search for nuclear
recoil events induced by the elastic scattering of dark matter particles in
CaWO 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-region and demonstrate
that the energy threshold is the key parameter in the search for low mass dark
matter particles.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Results on MeV-scale dark matter from a gram-scale cryogenic calorimeter operated above ground
Models for light dark matter particles with masses below 1 GeV/c 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 -cleus experiment has achieved an energy threshold of
eV, which is one order of magnitude lower than previous
results 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 MeV/c and 500 MeV/c.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, v3: ancillary files added, v4: high energy
spectrum (0.6-12keV) added to ancillary file
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