The hunt for dark matter with SuperCDMS at SNOLAB

by Dr Shubham Pandey (University of Minnesota, USA)

Thursday 6 Feb 2025, 14:30 → 16:30 Asia/Kolkata

AG66 (TIFR, Mumbai)

The existence of dark matter is strongly indicated by various astronomical observations. However, its exact nature and properties are yet to be discovered. The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment, currently being installed 2 km underground at SNOLAB in Canada, is a collaborative effort to search for low-mass dark matter particles (< 10 GeV/c²) via direct detection. The experiment utilizes 24 silicon and germanium crystals instrumented with either phonon sensors, called HV detectors, or, phonon and charge sensors, called iZIP detectors. These detectors will be stacked in 4 towers, with each tower containing 6 detectors. The HV detectors operate at high voltage (~100 V), leveraging the Neganov-Trofimov-Luke effect to amplify phonon signals and achieve a lower energy threshold. The iZIP detectors provide precise discrimination between electronic and nuclear recoils, substantially reducing the background. The combination of these technologies positions SuperCDMS uniquely to explore low-mass, low-cross-section dark matter particle Installation is set to conclude by mid-2025 and will be followed by the commissioning phase. The first science run is anticipated to begin by late 2025. Additionally, the collaboration recently tested one HV detector tower between October 2023 and February 2024 in the Cryogenic Underground TEst facility (CUTE), located adjacent to the main experimental area at SNOLAB. In this talk, I will give an overview of SuperCDMS detector technologies and its scientific reach. I will also discuss the key results from the CUTE tower testing and the R&D work being carried out at University of Minnesota’s test facility.