We present the first results from a dark matter search using six Skipper-CCDs in the SENSEI detector operating at SNOLAB. We employ a bias-mitigation technique of hiding approximately 46% of our total data and aggressively mask images to remove backgrounds. Given a total exposure after masking of 100.72 gram-days from well-performing sensors, we observe 55 two-electron events, 4 three-electron events, and no events containing 4 to 10 electrons. The two-electron events are consistent with pileup from one-electron events. Among the 4 three-electron events, 2 appear in pixels that are likely impacted by detector defects, although not strongly enough to trigger our "hot-pixel" mask. We use these data to set world-leading constraints on sub-GeV dark matter interacting with electrons and nuclei.
We report on a search for coherent elastic neutrino--nucleus scattering (CEν\nuNS) using cryogenic sapphire (Al2_2O3_3) detectors deployed at the Mitchell Institute Neutrino Experiment at Reactor (MINER), located near the 1~MWth_\text{th} TRIGA research reactor at Texas A\&M University. The experiment operated with a primary detector mass of 72~g and achieved a baseline energy resolution of 40\sim 40~eV. Using exposures of 158~g-days (reactor-on) and 381~g-days (reactor-off), we performed a statistical background subtraction in the energy region of 0.25--3~keV. A GEANT4 simulation has been performed to understand the reactor-correlated background present in the data and it agrees with our observations. The resulting best-fit ratio of the observed CEν\nuNS rate to the Standard Model prediction after rejecting the reactor induced background from the data with the help of simulation, is ρ=0.26±1534.74 (stat)±0.05 (sys)\rho = 0.26\pm 1534.74~\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.05~\mathrm{(sys)} with a significance of 0.007±0.022 (stat)±0.001 (sys)0.007 \pm 0.022~\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.001~\mathrm{(sys)}. This low significance indicates a high background rate at low energies. To have enhanced sensitivity, the MINER collaboration plans to relocate the experiment to the 85~MWth_\text{th} High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). With improved shielding, increased detector mass, and higher antineutrino flux, the upgraded setup is projected to achieve a 3σ\sigma CEν\nuNS detection within 30~kg\cdotdays of exposure.
We present constraints on low mass dark matter-electron scattering and absorption interactions using a SuperCDMS high-voltage eV-resolution (HVeV) detector. Data were taken underground in the NEXUS facility located at Fermilab with an overburden of 225 meters of water equivalent. The experiment benefits from the minimizing of luminescence from the printed circuit boards in the detector holder used in all previous HVeV studies. A blind analysis of 6.1gdays6.1\,\mathrm{g\cdot days} of exposure produces exclusion limits for dark matter-electron scattering cross-sections for masses as low as 1MeV/c21\,\mathrm{MeV}/c^2, as well as on the photon-dark photon mixing parameter and the coupling constant between axion-like particles and electrons for particles with masses >1.2eV/c2>1.2\,\mathrm{eV}/c^2 probed via absorption processes.
The DEAP-3600 detector searches for the scintillation signal from dark matter particles scattering on a 3.3 tonne liquid argon target. The largest background comes from 39^{39}Ar beta decays and is suppressed using pulseshape discrimination (PSD). We use two types of PSD algorithm: the prompt-fraction, which considers the fraction of the scintillation signal in a narrow and a wide time window around the event peak, and the log-likelihood-ratio, which compares the observed photon arrival times to a signal and a background model. We furthermore use two algorithms to determine the number of photons detected at a given time: (1) simply dividing the charge of each PMT pulse by the charge of a single photoelectron, and (2) a likelihood analysis that considers the probability to detect a certain number of photons at a given time, based on a model for the scintillation pulseshape and for afterpulsing in the light detectors. The prompt-fraction performs approximately as well as the log-likelihood-ratio PSD algorithm if the photon detection times are not biased by detector effects. We explain this result using a model for the information carried by scintillation photons as a function of the time when they are detected.
The SNO+ Collaboration reports the first evidence of 8B^{8}\text{B} solar neutrinos interacting on 13C^{13}\text{C} nuclei. The charged current interaction proceeds through 13C+νe13N+e^{13}\text{C} + \nu_e \rightarrow {}^{13}\text{N} + e^- which is followed, with a 10 minute half-life, by 13N13C+e++νe.{}^{13}\text{N} \rightarrow {}^{13}\text{C} + e^+ +\nu_e . The detection strategy is based on the delayed coincidence between the electron and the positron. Evidence for the charged current signal is presented with a significance of 4.2σ\sigma. Using the natural abundance of 13C^{13}\text{C} present in the scintillator, 5.7 tonnes of 13C^{13}\text{C} over 231 days of data were used in this analysis. The 5.62.3+3.0^{+3.0}_{-2.3} detected events in the data set are consistent with the expectation of 4.71.3+0.6^{+0.6}_{-1.3} events. This result is the second real-time measurement of CC interactions of 8B^{8}\text{B} neutrinos with nuclei and constitutes the lowest energy observation of neutrino interactions on 13C^{13}\text{C} generally. This enables the first direct measurement of the CC νe\nu_e reaction to the ground state of 13N{}^{13}\text{N}, yielding an average cross section of (16.16.7+8.5(stat.)2.7+1.6(syst.))×1043(16.1 ^{+8.5}_{-6.7} (\text{stat.}) ^{+1.6}_{-2.7} (\text{syst.}) )\times 10^{-43} cm2^{2} over the relevant 8B^{8}\text{B} solar neutrino energies.
The knowledge of scintillation quenching of α\alpha-particles plays a paramount role in understanding α\alpha-induced backgrounds and improving the sensitivity of liquid argon-based direct detection of dark matter experiments. We performed a relative measurement of scintillation quenching in the MeV energy region using radioactive isotopes (222^{222}Rn, 218^{218}Po and 214^{214}Po isotopes) present in trace amounts in the DEAP-3600 detector and quantified the uncertainty of extrapolating the quenching factor to the low-energy region.
The Forward Physics Facility (FPF) is a proposed extension of the HL-LHC program designed to exploit the unique scientific opportunities offered by the intense flux of high energy neutrinos, and possibly new particles, in the far-forward direction. Located in a well-shielded cavern 627 m downstream of one of the LHC interaction points, the facility will support a broad and ambitious physics program that significantly expands the discovery potential of the HL-LHC. Equipped with four complementary detectors -- FLArE, FASERν\nu2, FASER2, and FORMOSA -- the FPF will enable breakthrough measurements that will advance our understanding of neutrino physics, quantum chromodynamics, and astroparticle physics, and will search for dark matter and other new particles. With this Letter of Intent, we propose the construction of the FPF cavern and the construction, integration, and installation of its experiments. We summarize the physics case, the facility design, the layout and components of the detectors, as well as the envisioned collaboration structure, cost estimate, and implementation timeline.
The next generation of rare-event search experiments in nuclear and particle physics demand structural materials combining exceptional mechanical strength with ultra-low levels of radioactive contamination. This study evaluates chemical vapor deposition (CVD) nickel as a candidate structural material for such applications. Manufacturer-supplied CVD Ni grown on aluminum substrates underwent tensile testing before and after welding alongside standard Ni samples. CVD Ni exhibited a planar tensile strength of ~600 MPa, significantly surpassing standard nickel. However, welding and heat treatment were found to reduce the tensile strength to levels comparable to standard Ni, with observed porosity in the welds likely contributing to this reduction. Material assay via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) employing isotope-dilution produced measured bulk concentration of 232-Th, 238-U, and nat-K at the levels of ~70 ppq, <100 ppq, and ~900 ppt, respectively, which is the lowest reported in nickel. Surface-etch profiling uncovered higher concentrations of these contaminants extending ~10 micrometer beneath the surface, likely associated with the aluminum growth substrate. The results reported are compared to the one other well documented usage of CVD Ni in a low radioactive background physics research experiment and a discussion is provided on how the currently reported results may arise from changes in CVD fabrication or testing process. These results establish CVD Ni as a promising low-radioactivity structural material, while outlining the need for further development in welding and surface cleaning techniques to fully realize its potential in large-scale, low radioactive background rare-event search experiments.
A measurement of the 8^8B solar neutrino flux has been made using a 69.2 kt-day dataset acquired with the SNO+ detector during its water commissioning phase. At energies above 6 MeV the dataset is an extremely pure sample of solar neutrino elastic scattering events, owing primarily to the detector's deep location, allowing an accurate measurement with relatively little exposure. In that energy region the best fit background rate is 0.250.07+0.090.25^{+0.09}_{-0.07} events/kt-day, significantly lower than the measured solar neutrino event rate in that energy range, which is 1.030.12+0.131.03^{+0.13}_{-0.12} events/kt-day. Also using data below this threshold, down to 5 MeV, fits of the solar neutrino event direction yielded an observed flux of 2.530.28+0.312.53^{+0.31}_{-0.28}(stat.)0.10+0.13^{+0.13}_{-0.10}(syst.)×106\times10^6 cm2^{-2}s1^{-1}, assuming no neutrino oscillations. This rate is consistent with matter enhanced neutrino oscillations and measurements from other experiments.
Final results are reported from operation of the PICO-60 C3_3F8_8 dark matter detector, a bubble chamber filled with 52 kg of C3_3F8_8 located in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. The chamber was operated at thermodynamic thresholds as low as 1.2 keV without loss of stability. A new blind 1404-kg-day exposure at 2.45 keV threshold was acquired with approximately the same expected total background rate as the previous 1167-kg-day exposure at 3.3 keV. This increased exposure is enabled in part by a new optical tracking analysis to better identify events near detector walls, permitting a larger fiducial volume. These results set the most stringent direct-detection constraint to date on the WIMP-proton spin-dependent cross section at 2.5 ×\times 1041^{-41} cm2^2 for a 25 GeV WIMP, and improve on previous PICO results for 3-5 GeV WIMPs by an order of magnitude.
We report on a search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles interacting with electrons using the DAMIC-M prototype detector at the Modane Underground Laboratory. The data feature a significantly lower detector single ee^- rate (factor 50) compared to our previous search, while also accumulating a ten times larger exposure of \sim1.3 kg-day. DM interactions in the skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are searched for as patterns of two or three consecutive pixels with a total charge between 2 and 4 ee^-. We find 144 candidates of 2 ee^- and 1 candidate of 4 ee^-, where 141.5 and 0.071, respectively, are expected from background. With no evidence of a DM signal, we place stringent constraints on DM particles with masses between 1 and 1000 MeV/c2c^2 interacting with electrons through an ultra-light or heavy mediator. For large ranges of DM masses below 1 GeV/c2^2, we exclude theoretically-motivated benchmark scenarios where hidden-sector particles are produced as a major component of DM in the Universe through the freeze-in or freeze-out mechanisms.
The SuperCDMS Collaboration is currently building SuperCDMS SNOLAB, a dark matter search focused on nucleon-coupled dark matter in the 1-5 GeV/c2^2 mass range. Looking to the future, the Collaboration has developed a set of experience-based upgrade scenarios, as well as novel directions, to extend the search for dark matter using the SuperCDMS technology in the SNOLAB facility. The experienced-based scenarios are forecasted to probe many square decades of unexplored dark matter parameter space below 5 GeV/c2^2, covering over 6 decades in mass: 1-100 eV/c2^2 for dark photons and axion-like particles, 1-100 MeV/c2^2 for dark-photon-coupled light dark matter, and 0.05-5 GeV/c2^2 for nucleon-coupled dark matter. They will reach the neutrino fog in the 0.5-5 GeV/c2^2 mass range and test a variety of benchmark models and sharp targets. The novel directions involve greater departures from current SuperCDMS technology but promise even greater reach in the long run, and their development must begin now for them to be available in a timely fashion. The experienced-based upgrade scenarios rely mainly on dramatic improvements in detector performance based on demonstrated scaling laws and reasonable extrapolations of current performance. Importantly, these improvements in detector performance obviate significant reductions in background levels beyond current expectations for the SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment. Given that the dominant limiting backgrounds for SuperCDMS SNOLAB are cosmogenically created radioisotopes in the detectors, likely amenable only to isotopic purification and an underground detector life-cycle from before crystal growth to detector testing, the potential cost and time savings are enormous and the necessary improvements much easier to prototype.
DEAP-3600 is a liquid-argon scintillation detector looking for dark matter. Scintillation events in the liquid argon (LAr) are registered by 255 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), and pulseshape discrimination (PSD) is used to suppress electromagnetic background events. The excellent PSD performance of LAr makes it a viable target for dark matter searches, and the LAr scintillation pulseshape discussed here is the basis of PSD. The observed pulseshape is a combination of LAr scintillation physics with detector effects. We present a model for the pulseshape of electromagnetic background events in the energy region of interest for dark matter searches. The model is composed of a) LAr scintillation physics, including the so-called intermediate component, b) the time response of the TPB wavelength shifter, including delayed TPB emission at O\mathcal O(ms) time-scales, and c) PMT response. TPB is the wavelength shifter of choice in most LAr detectors. We find that approximately 10\% of the intensity of the wavelength-shifted light is in a long-lived state of TPB. This causes light from an event to spill into subsequent events to an extent not usually accounted for in the design and data analysis of LAr-based detectors.
This review demonstrates the unique role of the neutrino by discussing in detail the physics of and with neutrinos. We deal with neutrino sources, neutrino oscillations, absolute masses, interactions, the possible existence of sterile neutrinos, and theoretical implications. In addition, synergies of neutrino physics with other research fields are found, and requirements to continue successful neutrino physics in the future, in terms of technological developments and adequate infrastructures, are stressed.
This paper reports the first results of a direct dark matter search with the DEAP-3600 single-phase liquid argon (LAr) detector. The experiment was performed 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada) utilizing a large target mass, with the LAr target contained in a spherical acrylic vessel of 3600 kg capacity. The LAr is viewed by an array of PMTs, which would register scintillation light produced by rare nuclear recoil signals induced by dark matter particle scattering. An analysis of 4.44 live days (fiducial exposure of 9.87 tonne-days) of data taken with the nearly full detector during the initial filling phase demonstrates the detector performance and the best electronic recoil rejection using pulse-shape discrimination in argon, with leakage &lt;1.2\times 10^{-7} (90% C.L.) between 16 and 33 keVee_{ee}. No candidate signal events are observed, which results in the leading limit on WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section on argon, &lt;1.2\times 10^{-44} cm2^2 for a 100 GeV/c2^2 WIMP mass (90% C.L.).
SNOLAB hosts a biannual Future Projects Workshop (FPW) with the goal of encouraging future project stakeholders to present ideas, concepts, and needs for experiments or programs that could one day be hosted at SNOLAB. The 2025 FPW was held in the larger context of a 15-year planning exercise requested by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This report collects input from the community, including both contributions to the workshop and contributions that could not be scheduled in the workshop but nonetheless are important to the community.
The specific activity of the beta decay of 39^{39}Ar in atmospheric argon is measured using the DEAP-3600 detector. DEAP-3600, located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, uses a total of (3269 ±\pm 24) kg of liquid argon distilled from the atmosphere to search for dark matter. This detector with very low background uses pulseshape discrimination to differentiate between nuclear recoils and electron recoils and is well-suited to measure the decay of 39^{39}Ar. With 167 live-days of data, the measured specific activity at the time of atmospheric extraction is [0.964 ±\pm 0.001 (stat) ±\pm 0.024 (sys)] Bq/kgatmAr_{\rm atmAr} which is consistent with results from other experiments. A cross-check analysis using different event selection criteria provides a consistent result.
Accurate measurement of the cosmogenic muon-induced neutron yield is crucial for constraining a significant background in a wide range of low-energy physics searches. Although previous underground experiments have measured this yield across various cosmogenic muon energies, SNO+ is uniquely positioned due to its exposure to one of the highest average cosmogenic muon energies at 364GeV364\,\textup{GeV}. Using ultra-pure water, we have determined a neutron yield of Yn=(3.380.30+0.23)×104cm2g1μ1Y_{n}=(3.38^{+0.23}_{-0.30})\times10^{-4}\,\textup{cm}^{2}\textup{g}^{-1}\mu^{-1} at SNO+. Comparison with simulations demonstrates clear agreement with the \textsc{FLUKA} neutron production model, highlighting discrepancies with the widely used \textsc{GEANT4} model. Furthermore, this measurement reveals a lower cosmogenic neutron yield than that observed by the SNO experiment, which used heavy water under identical muon flux conditions. This result provides new evidence that nuclear structure and target material composition significantly influence neutron production by cosmogenic muons, offering fresh insight with important implications for the design and background modelling of future underground experiments.
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