M. Stark

Limits on WIMP dark matter using sapphire cryogenic detectors

Abstract Data taken by CRESST with a cryogenic detector system based on 262 g sapphire crystals has been used to place limits on WIMP dark matter in the Galactic Halo. The experiment was especially sensitive for low-mass WIMPs with spin-dependent cross sections and improves on existing limits in this region.

Results of CRESST phase I

Abstract Results of the CRESST experiment at Gran Sasso using 262 g sapphire calorimeters with tungsten phase transition thermometers are presented. Calibration and analysis methods are described. Data taken in 2000 have been used to place limits on WIMP dark matter particles in the galactic halo. The sapphire detectors are especially sensitive for low-mass WIMPS with spin-dependent interaction and improve on existing limits in this region.

Dark matter search with CRESST cryogenic detectors

Results of the CRESST experiment at Gran Sasso using 262-g sapphire calorimeters with tungsten phase transition thermometers are presented. Calibration and analysis methods are described. Data taken in 2000 have been used to place limits on WIMP dark matter particles in the Galactic halo. The sapphire detectors are especially sensitive to low-mass WIMPs with spin-dependent interaction and improve on existing limits in this region.

Results and status of the CRESST experiment

CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) employs cryogenic detectors for the direct search for weakly interacting massive dark matter particles (WIMPs). In the second phase of the experiment scintillating calcium tungstate crystals are used to discriminate background by means of different light yield for background and WIMP signals. After first results with this novel technique have been obtained, the experimental setup is being upgraded for further background reduction and larger target mass. The results and present status of the experiment will be presented.

The CRESST Dark Matter Search Status and Future

Data taken by CRESST in 2000 with a cryogenic detector system based on 262 g sapphire crystals is used to place limits on WIMP dark matter in the Galactic Halo. The detector is especially sensitive for low-mass WIMPS with spin-dependent cross sections and improves on existing limits in this region. CRESST is now preparing for a second phase, which will use a 10 kg detector consisting of 300 g CaWO4 crystals with simultaneous detection of phonons and scintillation light to reduce background.

Neutron scattering facility for the calibration of the response to nuclear recoils

A possibility to search for elementary particles as dark matter candidates is to detect elastic scattering with cryogenic detectors. For the interpretation of the data one has to determine the detector response to nuclear recoils, the so-called quenching factors. They can differ for the heat-, for the scintillation- and for the ionization-signal and can be measured by scattering of neutrons. The CRESST- and the EDELWEISS-collaborations have set up a neutron scattering facility for cryogenic detectors at the tandem-accelerator of the Munich ‘Maier-Leibniz-Labor.’ The scattering angle and the time-of-flight of the neutrons are measured by an array of liquid scintillator cells. The pulsed high energy (11 MeV) neutron beam is created by nuclear reaction of a 11B on a H2-gas target. The set-up and the results of first tests are presented.