Update on the MiniCLEAN dark matter experiment

ORAL

Abstract

MiniCLEAN utilizes over 500 kg of liquid cryogen to detect nuclear recoils from WIMP dark matter with a projected sensitivity of 2$\times 10^{-45}$ cm$^{2}$ for a mass of 100 GeV. The liquid cryogen is interchangeable between argon and neon to study the A$^{2}$ dependence of the potential signal and examine backgrounds. MiniCLEAN utilizes a unique modular design with spherical geometry to maximize the light yield using cold photomultiplier tubes in a single-phase detector. Pulse shape discrimination techniques are used to separate nuclear recoil signals from electron recoil backgrounds. Assembly of the experiment has begun at SNOLAB and an update on the project will be given.

Authors

  • Keith Rielage

    Los Alamos National Laboratory