Event Details

A diverse set of astrophysical observations provides compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter. The actual dark matter particles, constituting the dark sector of the Universe, still remain undiscovered though. Lacking knowledge about defining properties of the dark matter particles, it is of vital importance of making the search for them as broad as possible. Plausible particle candidates within the dark sector hypothesis include WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles), ALPs (axion-like particles) and dark photons. SuperCDMS (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) is designed to directly observe galactic WIMPs and is additionally sensitive to ALPs as well as ultra light dark photons. The experiment uses cryogenic germanium and silicon detectors, configured in two possible ways: One configuration has an excellent capability to discriminate between electron and nuclear recoils, while the other configuration significantly lowers the energy threshold. After recent decommissioning of the successful experimental setup at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, focus is shifting towards preparations for the next phase of SuperCDMS which will be installed at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario. This talk will focus on the status and plans for this new SNOLAB experiment, including discussions of recent data acquisition development and the prospect of dark sector particle searches.