Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search<\/a> (SuperCDMS), is aimed at finding the sub-atomic particle believed to comprise up to 85 per cent of the mass of the universe.<\/p>\nThe temperature was reached at the heart of what a media release issued by SNOLAB describes as \u201ca series of large, nested copper vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The system includes 24 cryogenically cooled detectors made from ultra-pure silicon and germanium crystals, each just larger than a hockey puck.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a dark matter particle strikes one of these crystals, it produces a tiny vibration called a phonon, along with a small electrical signal,\u201d according to the media release. \u201cTo detect those minuscule signals, the crystals are outfitted with superconducting sensors that only work when they are extremely cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat sets SuperCDMS apart from other dark matter searches is its low threshold for detecting tiny energy depositions,\u201d Miriam Diamond , University of Toronto assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, said in the media release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives it exquisite sensitivity to low-mass dark matter candidates, including WIMP-like particles, axion-like particles, dark photons, and lightly-ionizing particles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reaching near absolute zero marks the culmination of years of preparation and months of detailed planning. Cooling the experiment reduces thermal noise, the random motion of atoms that can mask faint signals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen everything is that cold, the crystals are basically quiet,\u201d SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory scientist Richard Partridge said in the media release. \u201cEven very small energy deposits become detectable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that the base temperature has been achieved, the collaboration will move into detector commissioning, a months-long process of turning on, calibrating and optimising each detector channel.<\/p>\n
Once this is complete, the SuperCDMS will begin its first science run, which is expected to last for approximately one year.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the first few months of data could be enough to set world-leading limits on light dark matter or reveal something entirely new,\u201d according to the media release.<\/p>\n
The SuperCDMS will also allow scientists to probe previously inaccessible energy scales thanks to its sensitivity and potentially uncover new kinds of particle interactions.<\/p>\n
The SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment is a joint project of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Arthur B. McDonald Institute (Canada).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The experiment is part of Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search, a project aimed at finding the sub-atomic particle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[240555,79,172213,240554],"class_list":{"0":"post-536452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-dark-matter-experiment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-snolab","11":"tag-super-cryogenic-dark-matter-search-supercdmssnolab"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}