5,038 research outputs found
Gaseous Dark Matter Detectors
Dark Matter detectors with directional sensitivity have the potential of
yielding an unambiguous positive observation of WIMPs as well as discriminating
between galactic Dark Matter halo models. In this article, we introduce the
motivation for directional detectors, discuss the experimental techniques that
make directional detection possible, and review the status of the experimental
effort in this field.Comment: 19 pages, review on gaseous directional dark matter detectors
submitted to New Journal of Physic
A Measurement of Photon Production in Electron Avalanches in CF4
This paper presents a measurement of the ratio of photon to electron
production and the scintillation spectrum in a popular gas for time pro jection
chambers, carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), over the range of 200 to 800 nm; the
ratio is measured to be 0.34+/-0.04. This result is of particular importance
for a new generation of dark matter time projection chambers with directional
sensitivity which use CF4 as a fill gas.Comment: 19 pages, including appendix. 8 figure
DMTPC: A dark matter detector with directional sensitivity
By correlating nuclear recoil directions with the Earth's direction of motion
through the Galaxy, a directional dark matter detector can unambiguously detect
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), even in the presence of
backgrounds. Here, we describe the Dark Matter Time-Projection Chamber (DMTPC)
detector, a TPC filled with CF4 gas at low pressure (0.1 atm). Using this
detector, we have measured the vector direction (head-tail) of nuclear recoils
down to energies of 100 keV with an angular resolution of <15 degrees. To study
our detector backgrounds, we have operated in a basement laboratory on the MIT
campus for several months. We are currently building a new, high-radiopurity
detector for deployment underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility
in New Mexico.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceedings for the CIPANP 2009 conference, May
26-31, 200
Charge amplification concepts for direction-sensitive dark matter detectors
Direction measurement of weakly interacting massive particles in
time-projection chambers can provide definite evidence of their existence and
help to determine their properties. This article demonstrates several concepts
for charge amplification in time-projection chambers that can be used in
direction-sensitive dark matter search experiments. We demonstrate
reconstruction of the 'head-tail' effect for nuclear recoils above 100keV, and
discuss the detector performance in the context of dark matter detection and
scaling to large detector volumes.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
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