Abstract

The search for a novel technology able to detect and reconstruct nuclear and electron recoil events with the energy of a few keV has become more and more important now that large regions of high-mass dark matter (DM) candidates have been excluded. Moreover, a detector sensitive to incoming particle direction will be crucial in the case of DM discovery to open the possibility of studying its properties. Gaseous time projection chambers (TPC) with optical readout are very promising detectors combining the detailed event information provided by the TPC technique with the high sensitivity and granularity of latest-generation scientific light sensors. The CYGNO experiment (a CYGNus module with Optical readout) aims to exploit the optical readout approach of multiple-GEM structures in large volume TPCs for the study of rare events as interactions of low-mass DM or solar neutrinos. The combined use of high-granularity sCMOS cameras and fast light sensors allows the reconstruction of the 3D direction of the tracks, offering good energy resolution and very high sensitivity in the few keV energy range, together with a very good particle identification useful for distinguishing nuclear recoils from electronic recoils. This experiment is part of the CYGNUS proto-collaboration, which aims at constructing a network of underground observatories for directional DM search. A one cubic meter demonstrator is expected to be built in 2022/23 aiming at a larger scale apparatus (30 m3–100 m3) at a later stage.

Highlights

  • The presence in the universe of large amounts of non-luminous matter (usually referred to as dark matter (DM)) is nowadays an established, yet still mysterious, paradigm [1]

  • The CYGNO experiment goal is to deploy at INFN Gran Sasso Laboratories (LNGS) a high-resolution time projection chambers (TPC) with optical readout based on gas electron multipliers (GEMs) working with a helium/fluorine-based gas mixture at atmospheric pressure for the study of rare events with energy releases in the range between hundreds of eV up to tens of keV

  • The average light yields were evaluated from a Polya fit [52] to the two distributions, resulting in an average of 514 ± 63 photons per keV detected by the sCMOS camera, with an RMS energy resolution of 12% and an average of (12.0 ± 0.2) PMT Charge (pC) per keV together with an RMS energy resolution of 16% by the Photo Multiplier Tube (PMT) charge signal

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Summary

Introduction

The presence in the universe of large amounts of non-luminous matter (usually referred to as dark matter (DM)) is nowadays an established, yet still mysterious, paradigm [1]. Low-energy (1–100 keV) nuclear recoils (NR) are expected to be the clearest evidence of WIMP interactions Given their rarity, the main experimental challenge of direct DM searches in the GeV mass region is to discriminate NR from interactions induced by other particles, which have largely higher rates. According to the performance of this, the collaboration will propose a larger detector for a competitive experiment With this program, CYGNO fits in the context of the wider international CYGNUS effort to establish a galactic directional recoil observatory that can test the DM hypothesis beyond the neutrino floor and measure the coherent scattering of neutrinos from the Sun and supernovae [21]

The Experimental Approach
The Optical Readout
The Gas Mixture
Operation Stability
Light Yield and Energy Resolution
Detection Efficiency
Track Absolute Distance along the Drift Direction
Detection and Identification of Nuclear and Electron Recoils
The CYGNO Experiment Roadmap and Synergies
Hydrogen Rich Gas Mixtures
CYGNO Scientific Goals and Expected Physics Performances
WIMP-like DM Searches at Low Masses through Nuclear Recoil Signature
Solar Neutrino Detection through Both Nuclear and Electron Recoil Signature
Conclusions
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