Neutron beam test of CsI crystal for dark matter search

We have studied the response of Tl-doped and Na-doped CsI crystals to nuclear recoils and $\gamma$'s below 10 keV. The response of CsI crystals to nuclear recoil was studied with mono-energetic neutrons produced by the $^3$H(p,n)$^3$He reaction. This was compared to the response to Compton electrons scattered by 662 keV $\gamma$-ray. Pulse shape discrimination between the response to these $\gamma$'s and nuclear recoils was studied, and quality factors were estimated. The quenching factors for nuclear recoils were derived for both CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals.Comment: 21pages, 14figures, submitted to NIM

The COSINE-100 liquid scintillator veto system

This paper describes the liquid scintillator veto system for the COSINE-100 dark matter experiment and its performance. The COSINE-100 detector consists of eight NaI(Tl) crystals immersed in 2200 L of linear alkylbenzene-based liquid scintillator. The liquid scintillator tags between 65 and 75% of the internal 40K background in the 2–6 keV energy region. We also describe the background model for the liquid scintillator, which is primarily used to assess its energy calibration and threshold

Measurement of the cosmic muon annual and diurnal flux variation with the COSINE-100 detector

We report measurements of annual and diurnal modulations of the cosmic-ray muon rate in the Yangyang underground laboratory (Y2L) using 952 days of COSINE-100 data acquired between September 2016 and July 2019. A correlation of the muon rate with the atmospheric temperature is observed and its amplitude on the muon rate is determined. The effective atmospheric temperature and muon rate variations are positively correlated with a measured effective temperature coefficient of αT = 0.80 ± 0.11. This result is consistent with a model of meson production in the atmosphere. We also searched for a diurnal modulation in the underground muon rate by comparing one-hour intervals. No significant diurnal modulation of the muon rate was observed

An induced annual modulation signature in COSINE-100 data by DAMA/LIBRA’s analysis method

The DAMA/LIBRA collaboration has reported the observation of an annual modulation in the event rate that has been attributed to dark matter interactions over the last two decades. However, even though tremendous efforts to detect similar dark matter interactions were pursued, no definitive evidence has been observed to corroborate the DAMA/LIBRA signal. Many studies assuming various dark matter models have attempted to reconcile DAMA/LIBRA’s modulation signals and null results from other experiments, however no clear conclusion can be drawn. Apart from the dark matter hypothesis, several studies have examined the possibility that the modulation is induced by variations in detector’s environment or their specific analysis methods. In particular, a recent study presents a possible cause of the annual modulation from an analysis method adopted by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment in which the observed annual modulation could be reproduced by a slowly varying time-dependent background. Here, we study the COSINE-100 data using an analysis method similar to the one adopted by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment and observe a significant annual modulation, however the modulation phase is almost opposite to that of the DAMA/LIBRA data. Assuming the same background composition for COSINE-100 and DAMA/LIBRA, simulated experiments for the DAMA/LIBRA without dark matter signals also provide significant annual modulation with an amplitude similar to DAMA/LIBRA with opposite phase. Even though this observation does not directly explain the DAMA/LIBRA results directly, this interesting phenomenon motivates more profound studies of the time-dependent DAMA/LIBRA background data

Search for boosted dark matter in COSINE-100

We search for energetic electron recoil signals induced by boosted dark matter (BDM) from the galactic center using the COSINE-100 array of NaI(Tl) crystal detectors at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory. The signal would be an excess of events with energies above 4 MeV over the well-understood background. Because no excess of events are observed in a 97.7 kg·yr exposure, we set limits on BDM interactions under a variety of hypotheses. Notably, we explored the dark photon parameter space, leading to competitive limits compared to direct dark photon search experiments, particularly for dark photon masses below 4 MeV and considering the invisible decay mode. Furthermore, by comparing our results with a previous BDM search conducted by the Super-Kamionkande experiment, we found that the COSINE-100 detector has advantages in searching for low-mass dark matter. This analysis demonstrates the potential of the COSINE-100 detector to search for MeV electron recoil signals produced by the dark sector particle interactions

Search for bosonic super-weakly interacting massive particles at COSINE-100

We present results of a search for bosonic super-weakly interacting massive particles (BSW) as keV scale dark matter candidates that is based on an exposure of 97.7 kg·year from the COSINE experiment. In this search, we employ, for the first time, Compton-like as well as absorption processes for pseudoscalar and vector BSWs. No evidence for BSWs is found in the mass range from 10 keV/c2 to 1 MeV/c2, and we present the exclusion limits on the dimensionless coupling constants to electrons gae for pseudoscalar and κ for vector BSWs at 90% confidence level. Our results show that these limits are improved by including the Compton-like process in masses of BSW, above O(100 keV/c2)

Nonproportionality of NaI(Tl) scintillation detector for dark matter search experiments

We present a comprehensive study of the nonproportionality of NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors within the context of dark matter search experiments. Our investigation, which integrates COSINE-100 data with supplementary γ spectroscopy, measures light yields across diverse energy levels from full-energy γ peaks produced by the decays of various isotopes. These γ peaks of interest were produced by decays supported by both long and short-lived isotopes. Analyzing peaks from decays supported only by short-lived isotopes presented a unique challenge due to their limited statistics and overlapping energies, which was overcome by a e-mail: [email protected] b e-mail: [email protected] (corresponding author) long-term data collection and a time-dependent analysis. A key achievement is the direct measurement of the 0.87 keV light yield, resulting from the cascade following electron capture decay of 22Na from internal contamination. This measurement, previously accessible only indirectly, deepens our understanding of NaI(Tl) scintillator behavior in the region of interest for dark matter searches. This study holds substantial implications for background modeling and the interpretation of dark matter signals in NaI(Tl) experiments

Search for inelastic WIMP-iodine scattering with COSINE-100

We report the results of a search for inelastic scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) off I127 nuclei using NaI(Tl) crystals with a data exposure of 97.7 kg·years from the COSINE-100 experiment. The signature of inelastic WIMP-I127 scattering is a nuclear recoil accompanied by a 57.6 keV γ-ray from the prompt deexcitation, producing a more energetic signal compared to the typical WIMP nuclear recoil signal. We found no evidence for this inelastic scattering signature and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on the WIMP-proton spin-dependent, inelastic scattering cross section of 1.2×10-37 cm2 at the WIMP mass 500 GeV/c2

The first direct search for inelastic boosted dark matter with COSINE-100

A search for inelastic boosted dark matter (IBDM) using the COSINE-100 detector with 59.5 days of data is presented. This relativistic dark matter is theorized to interact with the target material through inelastic scattering with electrons, creating a heavier state that subsequently produces standard model particles, such as an electron-positron pair. In this study, we search for this electron-positron pair in coincidence with the initially scattered electron as a signature for an IBDM interaction. No excess over the predicted background event rate is observed. Therefore, we present limits on IBDM interactions under various hypotheses, one of which allows us to explore an area of the dark photon parameter space that has not yet been covered by other experiments. This is the first experimental search for IBDM using a terrestrial detector

A search for solar axion induced signals with COSINE-100

We present results from a search for solar axions with the COSINE-100 detector. We find no evidence of solar axion events from a data set of 6,303.9 kg⋅days exposure and set a 90\,\% confidence level upper limit on the axion-electron coupling, gae, at 1.70~×~10−11 for an axion mass less than 1\,keV/c2. This limit excludes QCD axions heavier than 0.59\,eV/c2 in the DFSZ model and 168.1\,eV/c2 in the KSVZ model