Speaker
Description
The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) hunts for direct evidence of dark matter in the form of WIMPs. Cryogenic Germanium detectors are deployed in a well shielded environment deep underground to minimize interactions from cosmogenic and radiogenic particles. Particle interactions in the detector deposit vibrational energy (phonons) and free electron-hole pairs. Sensors on the surface of the detector measure the phonon signal to extract the energy of the initial particle interaction. In the CDMS low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite), an electric potential is applied on one face of the detector. Electrons and holes drift to opposite sides of the detector in the resulting electric field. As they drift apart, they deposit more vibrational energy to the crystal, amplifying the phonon signal in a process called Luke amplification. Determining where in the detector an event occurred is important because the electric field is not perfectly flat, leading to regions of reduced Luke amplification at high radius. The shape of the phonon pulses and the geometry of the detector allow for an approximate radial reconstruction based on the relative sharpness of the rises of pulses in different sensors. This poster discusses the CDMSlite experiment and how the pulse information is used to extract the information necessary to achieve the most sensitive measurement.
