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Instruments
Special Issues
Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection
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Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection

A special issue of Instruments (ISSN 2410-390X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 27805

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrea Messina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Physics Department, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
2. INFN Sezione di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: particle physics; astroparticle physics; dark matter, high energy physics; experimental particle physics; particle detectors; dark matter direct detection experiments; experimental collider physics; data acquisition and trigger systems; data analysis
Prof. Dr. Gianluca Lamanna

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Physics Department, Univesità di Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy
2. INFN Sezione di Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Interests: particle physics; low energy dark matter experiments; microwave single photon detectors; axions physics; axions detection; experimental particle physics; trigger and data acquisition; flavor physics

Special Issue Information

It is our pleasure to announce this Special Issue devoted to innovative experimental techniques for direct dark matter detection.

Astronomical and cosmological observations strongly support the existence of dark matter (DM) in the Universe. However, it has yet to be observed and its nature—its mass and interaction—revealed. In recent years, the experimental progress has been impressive, exploring a large range of masses and cross sections. New experiments based on innovative detection techniques are currently being proposed, and will soon reach unprecedented sensitivity.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect contributions for a discussion on the experimental techniques for DM detection. The scope is to describe the state of the art and the future perspectives of direct DM experiments, with a particular attention paid to innovative detection techniques. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas: new detector technologies, experimental techniques exploiting additional interaction mechanisms, innovative event reconstruction, improved background modelling, and analysis strategies to enhance the sensitivity.

We invite original research articles, reviews, and new experimental proposals on the topics described above to contribute to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Messina
Prof. Dr. Gianluca Lamanna
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Instruments is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Dark matter detector
  • Directional detection
  • Instrumentation
  • Underground experiments
  • Rare event search

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

30 pages, 8933 KiB  
Article
The CYGNO Experiment
by Fernando Domingues Amaro, Elisabetta Baracchini, Luigi Benussi, Stefano Bianco, Cesidio Capoccia, Michele Caponero, Danilo Santos Cardoso, Gianluca Cavoto, André Cortez, Igor Abritta Costa, Rita Joanna da Cruz Roque, Emiliano Dané, Giorgio Dho, Flaminia Di Giambattista, Emanuele Di Marco, Giovanni Grilli di Cortona, Giulia D’Imperio, Francesco Iacoangeli, Herman Pessoa Lima Júnior, Guilherme Sebastiao Pinheiro Lopes, Amaro da Silva Lopes Júnior, Giovanni Maccarrone, Rui Daniel Passos Mano, Michela Marafini, Robert Renz Marcelo Gregorio, David José Gaspar Marques, Giovanni Mazzitelli, Alasdair Gregor McLean, Andrea Messina, Cristina Maria Bernardes Monteiro, Rafael Antunes Nobrega, Igor Fonseca Pains, Emiliano Paoletti, Luciano Passamonti, Sandro Pelosi, Fabrizio Petrucci, Stefano Piacentini, Davide Piccolo, Daniele Pierluigi, Davide Pinci, Atul Prajapati, Francesco Renga, Filippo Rosatelli, Alessandro Russo, Joaquim Marques Ferreira dos Santos, Giovanna Saviano, Neil John Curwen Spooner, Roberto Tesauro, Sandro Tomassini and Samuele Torelliadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Instruments 2022, 6(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments6010006 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7684
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, [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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13 pages, 1187 KiB  
Article
Impact of Superconductors’ Properties on the Measurement Sensitivity of Resonant-Based Axion Detectors
by Andrea Alimenti, Kostiantyn Torokhtii, Daniele Di Gioacchino, Claudio Gatti, Enrico Silva and Nicola Pompeo
Instruments 2022, 6(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments6010001 - 30 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2392
Abstract
Axions, hypothetical particles theorised to solve the strong CP problem, are presently being considered as strong candidates for cold dark matter constituents. The signal power of resonant-based axion detectors, known as haloscopes, is directly proportional to their quality factor Q. In this [...] Read more.
Axions, hypothetical particles theorised to solve the strong CP problem, are presently being considered as strong candidates for cold dark matter constituents. The signal power of resonant-based axion detectors, known as haloscopes, is directly proportional to their quality factor Q. In this paper, the impact of the use of superconductors on the performances of haloscopes is studied by evaluating the obtainable Q. In particular, the surface resistance Rs of NbTi, Nb3Sn, YBa2Cu3O7−δ, and FeSe0.5Te0.5 is computed in the frequency, magnetic field, and temperature ranges of interest, starting from the measured vortex motion complex resistivity and the screening lengths of these materials. From Rs, the quality factor Q of a cylindrical haloscope with copper conical bases and a superconductive lateral wall, operating with the TM010 mode, is evaluated and used to perform a comparison of the performances of the different materials. Both YBa2Cu3O7−δ and FeSe0.5Te0.5 are shown to improve the measurement sensitivity by almost an order of magnitude, with respect to a whole Cu cavity, while NbTi is shown to be suitable only at lower frequencies (<10 GHz). Nb3Sn can provide an intermediate improvement of the whole spectrum of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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15 pages, 10381 KiB  
Article
Josephson Junctions as Single Microwave Photon Counters: Simulation and Characterization
by Alessio Rettaroli, David Alesini, Danilo Babusci, Carlo Barone, Bruno Buonomo, Matteo Mario Beretta, Gabriella Castellano, Fabio Chiarello, Daniele Di Gioacchino, Giulietto Felici, Giovanni Filatrella, Luca Gennaro Foggetta, Alessandro Gallo, Claudio Gatti, Carlo Ligi, Giovanni Maccarrone, Francesco Mattioli, Sergio Pagano, Simone Tocci and Guido Torrioli
Instruments 2021, 5(3), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments5030025 - 16 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4411
Abstract
Detection of light dark matter, such as axion-like particles, puts stringent requirements on the efficiency and dark-count rates of microwave-photon detectors. The possibility of operating a current-biased Josephson junction as a single-microwave photon-detector was investigated through numerical simulations, and through an initial characterization [...] Read more.
Detection of light dark matter, such as axion-like particles, puts stringent requirements on the efficiency and dark-count rates of microwave-photon detectors. The possibility of operating a current-biased Josephson junction as a single-microwave photon-detector was investigated through numerical simulations, and through an initial characterization of two Al junctions fabricated by shadow mask evaporation, done in a dilution refrigerator by measuring escape currents at different temperatures, from 40 mK up to the Al transition temperature. The escape dynamics of the junctions were reproduced in the simulation, including the dissipative effects. Inhibition of thermal activation was observed, leaving the macroscopic quantum tunneling as the dominant effect well beyond the crossover temperature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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22 pages, 941 KiB  
Article
New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors
by Sebastian Baum, Thomas D. P.  Edwards, Katherine Freese and Patrick Stengel
Instruments 2021, 5(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments5020021 - 11 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4477
Abstract
Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter (DM). In lieu of the conventional approach of operating a tonne-scale real-time detector to search for DM-induced nuclear recoils, paleo-detectors take advantage of small samples of naturally occurring rocks on Earth that [...] Read more.
Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter (DM). In lieu of the conventional approach of operating a tonne-scale real-time detector to search for DM-induced nuclear recoils, paleo-detectors take advantage of small samples of naturally occurring rocks on Earth that have been deep underground (≳5 km), accumulating nuclear damage tracks from recoiling nuclei for O(1)Gyr. Modern microscopy techniques promise the capability to read out nuclear damage tracks with nanometer resolution in macroscopic samples. Thanks to their O(1)Gyr integration times, paleo-detectors could constitute nuclear recoil detectors with keV recoil energy thresholds and 100 kilotonne-yr exposures. This combination would allow paleo-detectors to probe DM-nucleon cross sections orders of magnitude below existing upper limits from conventional direct detection experiments. In this article, we use improved background modeling and a new spectral analysis technique to update the sensitivity forecast for paleo-detectors. We demonstrate the robustness of the sensitivity forecast to the (lack of) ancillary measurements of the age of the samples and the parameters controlling the backgrounds, systematic mismodeling of the spectral shape of the backgrounds, and the radiopurity of the mineral samples. Specifically, we demonstrate that even if the uranium concentration in paleo-detector samples is 10−8 (per weight), many orders of magnitude larger than what we expect in the most radiopure samples obtained from ultra basic rock or marine evaporite deposits, paleo-detectors could still probe DM-nucleon cross sections below current limits. For DM masses ≲ 10 GeV/c2, the sensitivity of paleo-detectors could still reach down all the way to the conventional neutrino floor in a Xe-based direct detection experiment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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Review

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21 pages, 1738 KiB  
Review
The Future Role of Inorganic Crystal Scintillators in Dark Matter Investigations
by Pierluigi Belli, Rita Bernabei, Fabio Cappella, Vincenzo Caracciolo, Riccardo Cerulli, Fedor Danevich, Antonella Incicchitti, Dmytro Kasperovych, Vittorio Merlo, Oksana Polischuk and Vladimir Tretyak
Instruments 2021, 5(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments5020016 - 28 Apr 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3740
Abstract
Crystal scintillators and in particular inorganic scintillators play an important role in the investigation of Dark Matter (DM) and other rare processes. The investigation of a DM signature, as the annual modulation, or the directionality technique requires the use of highly radiopure detectors [...] Read more.
Crystal scintillators and in particular inorganic scintillators play an important role in the investigation of Dark Matter (DM) and other rare processes. The investigation of a DM signature, as the annual modulation, or the directionality technique requires the use of highly radiopure detectors able to explore the very low energy region maintaining a high stability of the running conditions. In this paper, the cases of NaI(Tl), ZnWO4 and SrI2(Eu) crystal scintillators are described in the framework of our activities at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN. Their role, the obtained results in DM investigation, as well as their potential and perspectives for the future are reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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15 pages, 1089 KiB  
Review
GHz Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors for Dark Matter Search
by Federico Paolucci and Francesco Giazotto
Instruments 2021, 5(2), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments5020014 - 1 Apr 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3564
Abstract
The composition of dark matter is one of the puzzling topics in astrophysics. To address this issue, several experiments searching for the existence of axions have been designed, built and realized in the last twenty years. Among all the others, light shining through [...] Read more.
The composition of dark matter is one of the puzzling topics in astrophysics. To address this issue, several experiments searching for the existence of axions have been designed, built and realized in the last twenty years. Among all the others, light shining through walls experiments promise to push the exclusion limits to lower energies. For this reason, effort is put for the development of single-photon detectors operating at frequencies <100 GHz. Here, we review recent advancements in superconducting single-photon detection. In particular, we present two sensors based on one-dimensional Josephson junctions with the capability to be in situ tuned by simple current bias: the nanoscale transition edge sensor (nano-TES) and the Josephson escape sensor (JES). These two sensors are the ideal candidates for the realization of microwave light shining through walls (LSW) experiments, since they show unprecedented frequency resolutions of about 100 GHz and 2 GHz for the nano-TES and JES, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Experimental Techniques for Direct Dark Matter Detection)
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