43 research outputs found
Constraints on low-mass, relic dark matter candidates from a surface-operated SuperCDMS single-charge sensitive detector
This article presents an analysis and the resulting limits on light dark matter inelastically scattering off of electrons, and on dark photon and axionlike particle absorption, using a second-generation SuperCDMS high-voltage eV-resolution detector. The 0.93 g Si detector achieved a 3 eV phonon energy resolution; for a detector bias of 100 V, this corresponds to a charge resolution of 3% of a single electron-hole pair. The energy spectrum is reported from a blind analysis with 1.2 g-days of exposure acquired in an above-ground laboratory. With charge carrier trapping and impact ionization effects incorporated into the dark matter signal models, the dark matter-electron cross section σ_e is constrained for dark matter masses from 0.5 to 10⁴ MeV/c²; in the mass range from 1.2 to 50 eV/c² the dark photon kinetic mixing parameter ϵ and the axioelectric coupling constant gae are constrained. The minimum 90% confidence-level upper limits within the above-mentioned mass ranges are σ_e = 8.7×10⁻³⁴ cm², ϵ = 3.3×10⁻¹⁴, and g_(ae) = 1.0×10⁻⁹
Ionization yield measurement in a germanium CDMSlite detector using photo-neutron sources
Two photo-neutron sources, YBe and SbBe, have been
used to investigate the ionization yield of nuclear recoils in the CDMSlite
germanium detectors by the SuperCDMS collaboration. This work evaluates the
yield for nuclear recoil energies between 1 keV and 7 keV at a temperature of
50 mK. We use a Geant4 simulation to model the neutron spectrum assuming
a charge yield model that is a generalization of the standard Lindhard model
and consists of two energy dependent parameters. We perform a likelihood
analysis using the simulated neutron spectrum, modeled background, and
experimental data to obtain the best fit values of the yield model. The
ionization yield between recoil energies of 1 keV and 7 keV is shown to be
significantly lower than predicted by the standard Lindhard model for
germanium. There is a general lack of agreement among different experiments
using a variety of techniques studying the low-energy range of the nuclear
recoil yield, which is most critical for interpretation of direct dark matter
searches. This suggests complexity in the physical process that many direct
detection experiments use to model their primary signal detection mechanism and
highlights the need for further studies to clarify underlying systematic
effects that have not been well understood up to this point
Search for low-mass dark matter via bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect in SuperCDMS
We present a new analysis of previously published SuperCDMS data using a profile likelihood framework to search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles through two inelastic scattering channels: bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect. By considering these possible inelastic scattering channels, experimental sensitivity can be extended to DM masses that are undetectable through the DM-nucleon elastic scattering channel, given the energy threshold of current experiments. We exclude DM masses down to 220 MeV/c2 at 2.7×10−30 cm2 via the bremsstrahlung channel. The Migdal channel search provides overall considerably more stringent limits and excludes DM masses down to 30 MeV/c2 at 5.0×10−30 cm2