Status of CRESST Dark Matter Search

Abstract

We are preparing the CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) experiment to search for dark matter WIMPs using cryogenic detectors. Our experiment is complementary to other dark matter searches in that it extends the sensitivity to WIMP masses below 10 GeV, and that different target materials could be used within the same setup. In the first stage we plan to use four 262 g sapphire crystals with FWHM energy resolutions of 0.2 keV at 1 keV and thresholds of 0.5 keV. The detectors will run at a temperature of about 15 mK within a low-background setup which is currently being installed in the Gran Sasso Laboratory. First results are expected in 1997. Paper pa14-005 contributed to the 28th International Conference on High Energy Physics, 25--31 July 1996, Warsaw. Contact: [email protected]. y Permanent Address: Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, EE-0026 Tallinn, Estonia. z Permanent Address: Institute of Physics, EE-2400 Tartu, Estonia. ..