The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) collaboration is developing liquid-noble bubble chambers for the detection of sub-keV nuclear recoils. These detectors benefit from the electron recoil rejection inherent in moderately-superheated bubble chambers with the addition of energy reconstruction provided from the scintillation signal. The ability to measure low-energy nuclear recoils allows the search for GeV-scale dark matter and the measurement of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering on argon from MeV-scale reactor antineutrinos. The first physics-scale detector, SBC-LAr10, is in the commissioning phase at Fermilab, where extensive engineering and calibration studies will be performed. In parallel, a functionally identical low-background version, SBC-SNOLAB, is being built for a dark matter search underground at SNOLAB. SBC-SNOLAB, with a 10 kg-yr exposure, will have sensitivity to a dark matter–nucleon cross section of 2×10−42 cm2 at 1 GeV/c2 dark matter mass, and future detectors could reach the boundary of the argon neutrino fog with a tonne-yr exposure. In addition, the deployment of an SBC detector at a nuclear reactor could enable neutrino physics investigations including measurements of the weak mixing angle and searches for sterile neutrinos, the neutrino magnetic moment, and the light Z’ gauge boson.

Particle detectors making use of noble elements in gaseous, liquid, or solid phases are prevalent in neutrino and dark matter experiments and are also used to a lesser extent in collider-based particle physics experiments. These experiments take advantage of both the very large, ultra-pure target volumes achievable and the multiple observable signal pathways possible in noble-element based particle detectors. As these experiments seek to increase their sensitivity, novel and improved technologies will be needed to enhance the precision of their measurements and to broaden the reach of their physics programs. The areas of R&D in noble element instrumentation that have been identified by the HEP community in the Snowmass process are highlighted by five key messages: IF08-1) Enhance and combine existing modalities (scintillation and electron drift) to increase signal-to-noise and reconstruction fidelity; IF08-2) Develop new modalities for signal detection in noble elements, including methods based on ion drift, metastable fluids, solid-phase detectors and dissolved targets. Collaborative and blue-sky R&D should also be supported to enable advances in this area; IF08-3) Improve the understanding of detector microphysics and calibrate detector response in new signal regimes; IF08-4) Address challenges in scaling technologies, including material purification, background mitigation, large-area readout, and magnetization; and IF08-5) Train the next generation of researchers, using fast-turnaround instrumentation projects to provide the design-through-result training no longer possible in very-large-scale experiments. This topical group report identifies and documents recent developments and future needs for noble element detector technologies. In addition, we highlight the opportunity that this area of research provides for continued training of the next generation of scientists.

Detector instrumentation is at the heart of scientific discoveries. Cutting edge technologies enable US particle physics to play a leading role worldwide. This report summarizes the current status of instrumentation for High Energy Physics (HEP), the challenges and needs of future experiments and indicates high priority research areas. The Snowmass Instrumentation Frontier studies detector technologies and Research and Development (R&D) needed for future experiments in collider physics, neutrino physics, rare and precision physics and at the cosmic frontier. It is divided into more or less diagonal areas with some overlap among a few of them. We lay out five high-level key messages that are geared towards ensuring the health and competitiveness of the US detector instrumentation community, and thus the entire particle physics landscape.

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) collaboration has designed and constructed a dual-phase xenon detector, in order to conduct a search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), a leading dark matter candidate. The goal of the LUX detector is to clearly detect (or exclude) WIMPS with a spin independent cross-section per nucleon of 2 x 10(-46) cm(2), equivalent to similar to 1 event 100 kg month in the inner 100-kg fiducial volume (FV) of the 370-kg detector. The overall background goals are set to have <1 background events characterized as possible WIMPs in the FV in 300 days of running.This paper describes the design and construction of the LUX detector. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Observation of rotational curve of spiral galaxies shows that a large fraction (similar to 23%) of the mass density of the universe is unaccounted for. Such a significant percentage of missing dark matter suggests that the universe may consist of new types of elementary particles. A compelling explanation for the new particles is the existence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are non-baryonic particles characterized by particle physics theories beyond the Standard Model. WIMPs are believed to only interact through the weak force and gravity; hence the interaction cross section with ordinary matter is extremely small. Therefore, experimental techniques that combine low radioactivity, low energy thresholds, efficient discrimination against electronic recoil backgrounds, and scalability to large detector masses can only be performed at a deep underground environment where the interference of cosmic rays is obviated. In this paper, we report a cryogenic large liquid xenon detector for dark matter searches at Sanford Lab (Davis Cavern) in the Homestake Mine, USA. The goal of the large underground xenon (LUX) dual-phase detector is to clearly detect (or exclude) WIMPs with a spin independent cross-section per nucleon of 7 x 10(-46) cm(2), equivalent to similar to 0.5 events/100 kg/month in an inner 100 kg fiducial volume (FV) of a 300 kg LXe detector.

We show for the first time that the quenching of electronic excitation from nuclear recoils in liquid xenon is well-described by Lindhard theory, if the nuclear recoil energy is reconstructed using the combined (scintillation and ionization) energy scale proposed by Shutt et al. We argue for the adoption of this perspective in favor of the existing preference for reconstructing nuclear recoil energy solely from primary scintillation. We show that signal partitioning into scintillation and ionization is well described by the Thomas-Imel box model. We discuss the implications for liquid xenon detectors aimed at the direct detection of dark matter.

Cosmological and astrophysical measurements indicate that our galaxy is filled with a new type of matter previously unknown to physics. This "dark matter" apparently has no electromagnetic or strong interactions, but an interaction of the strength of the weak nuclear force is strongly suggested by the data. The LUX collaboration is attempting to detect the faint signature of weakly interacting dark matter as it passes through the earth. The experiment searches for recoiling atomic nuclei in a target consisting of 350 kg of liquefied xenon. LUX is the largest experiment of its type ever attempted, and it is expected to improve upon current experimental sensitivities by two orders of magnitude. The experiment is being assembled at the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (SUSEL) in Lead, South Dakota, USA, and first data is expected in 2011. We report on the status of LUX and the prospects for future large-scale dark matter searches with liquid xenon.

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a liquid xenon time projection chamber designed for extremely low levels of radioactive background in its fiducial volume. The overall liquid xenon mass is 300 kg, with a 100 kg fiducial mass. LUX is currently under construction, and integration of the full detector will begin in Fall 2009 at the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory in South Dakota. The LUX sensitivity to the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent scattering cross-section will be 7 × 10-46 cm2 at 100 GeV after 300 days of low-background operation.

Bubble chambers are promising devices for the detection of WIMP dark matter, due to their easy scalability to large target masses and insensitivity to background {gamma} and {beta} radiation. The COUPP collaboration has constructed small chambers which have achieved competitive sensitivity for spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon scattering. A new chamber, COUPP-60, containing 60-kg of CF{sub 3}I target liquid, has been built and is being commissioned at Fermilab. We propose to move this detector to SNOLAB after completing tests in a shallow underground site at Fermilab. At SNOLAB, we expect the sensitivity of the experiment to be determined by the level of {alpha}emitting contamination in the target liquid. If we achieve state-of-the-art levels of {alpha} emitting contamination, we will improve current sensitivity by approximately four orders of magnitude beyond our published limits, to the region of 10{sup -4} pb for a 30 GeV WIMP interacting by spin-dependent couplings to the proton. This will allow a first exploration of the phase space favored by supersymmetric models in this regime.

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter search experiment is currently being deployed at the Homestake Laboratory in South Dakota. We will highlight the main elements of design which make the experiment a very strong competitor in the field of direct detection, as well as an easily scalable concept. We will also present its potential reach for supersymmetric dark matter detection, within various timeframes ranging from 1 year to 5 years or more.

Liquid xenon dark matter detectors have been successfully employed to search for WIMPs, a proposed dark matter candidate. Increasing the scintillation wavelength from 175 nm to 300-400 nm can increase light collection and consequently improve sensitivity to dark matter. Such a shift increases the reflectivity of common reflector materials, decreases the amount of Rayleigh scattering and boosts the quantum efficiency of photomultiplier tubes. In this paper, we show that depositing p-terphenyl (p-TP) solid wavelength shifter on PTFE reflectors and the entrance window of a photomultiplier tube enhanced light-collection efficiency by 21%. We also observed an anti-correlation between the liquid xenon temperature and electron drift length, indicating that the p-TP dissolves into liquid xenon with a temperature dependent solubility. Possible ways to solve the drift length problem are discussed in the paper.

The technique to realize 3D position sensitivity in a two-phase xenon time projection chamber (XeTPC) for dark matter search is described. Results from a prototype detector (XENON3) are presented.

The XENON experiment searches for dark matter particles called WIMPs using liquid xenon (LXe) as the active target. The detector is a 3D position sensitive Time Projection Chamber optimized to simultaneously measure the ionization and scintillation produced by a recoil event of energy as low as 16 keV. The distinct ratio of the two signals for nuclear recoils arising from WIMPs and neutrons and for electron recoils from the dominant gamma-ray background determines its event-by-event discrimination. With 1 ton of LXe distributed in ten identical modules, the proposed XENON1T experiment will achieve a sensitivity more than a factor of thousand beyond current limits. A phased program will test a 10 kg detector (XENON10) followed by a 100 kg (XENON100) one as unit module for the XENON1T scale experiment. We review the progress of the XENON R & D phase before presenting the status of XENON10. The experiment will be based at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory and is expected to start data taking in early 2006.