The DAMIC experiment: searching for WIMPs and beyond with CCDs
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Prof.Paolo Privitera(The Enrico Fermi Institute/The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, Univ. of Chicago)
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Europe/Paris
Salle 101 (LAL)
Salle 101
LAL
Bât.200
Description
The DAMIC experiment employs the bulk silicon of ~mm-thick charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for direct detection of dark matter particles. This novel technique features an unprecedentedly low threshold for nuclear and electron recoils (down to a single electron of charge), providing optimal sensitivity for low-mass dark matter particles (< 10 GeV). In addition, the spatial resolution of the CCDs, unique amongst dark matter detectors, results in powerful methods to identify and mitigate environmental and cosmogenic backgrounds. I will show recent results from DAMIC at SNOLAB and present plans for an ambitious kg-size experiment based on the CCD technology which will explore with unprecedented sensitivity WIMPs and dark sector candidates over a broad mass range between 1 eV and 10 GeV.