Speaker
Description
The Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration (GADMC) is designing a direct detection dark matter experiment using liquid argon, named ARGO. ARGO will utilize 400 tonnes of underground argon, with a fiducial volume of 300 tonnes. The activity of long-lived beta-emitter $^{39}$Ar will be reduced by at least a factor of 1000 in underground argon compared to atmospheric argon. This reduction decreases electron-recoil backgrounds in the dark matter search region, making it feasible to scale up to the ARGO detector which is two orders of magnitude larger than the currently operational DEAP-3600 experiment.
Since neutrons can produce nuclear recoils through elastic scattering and mimic dark matter signals, mitigating this background is crucial during the early stages of detector designs. We have performed detailed simulations using the RAT software framework, based on GEANT4 and ROOT, to assess radiogenic neutron backgrounds and develop strategies for their mitigation. In my talk, I will present the latest results from this study, with the goal of achieving less than one neutron leakage for a 3000 tonne·year exposure of ARGO.
| Keyword-1 | dark matter |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | liquid argon |
| Keyword-3 | neutron backgrounds |