| NSF Org: |
PHY Division Of Physics |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 13, 2010 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 13, 2010 |
| Award Number: | 1047794 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jonathan Whitmore
PHY Division Of Physics MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2010 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2013 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $292,252.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $292,252.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
615 W 131ST ST NEW YORK NY US 10027-7922 (212)854-6851 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
615 W 131ST ST NEW YORK NY US 10027-7922 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Particle Astrophysics/Undergro |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
This award will provide funds for research and development to advance the search for the direct detection of dark matter Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs) with liquid xenon (LXe) as target and detector medium in next generation, large volume, two-phase time-projection chambers (TPC). These types of detectors have been most successfully exploited by the XENON collaboration, with the XENON10 prototype and the XENON100 detector. The latter is currently the most sensitive dark matter experiment in operation underground with a target at the 100 kg mass scale.
The group will develop and test a two-phase Xe TPC prototype to validate the design of the next generation XENON1T experiment. A key requirement for the realization of multi-ton LXe detectors is the demonstration of electron drift over a meter length, under a field of at least 1 kV/cm. At the same time, one has to demonstrate the liquid xenon purity required to allow ionization electrons to drift across such large detectors. The Collaboration has designed a detector system which will be able to address these and other questions relevant to XENON1T. The goal is to get results within one year, and most of the equipment items could also be used in the actual XENON1T development.
The broader impact of this award comes about since the XENON science addresses questions about fundamental properties of the Universe, with all the ingredients to captivate the interest and imagination of students and the general public alike. The research and development work will advance the application of LXe detectors and related technologies in fields beyond particle astrophysics, including national security and medical imaging research.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Most of the matter in the Universe is not in the form of known
atoms, but consists of some new, unknown kind of matter. The nature
of this so-called Dark Matter is one of the greatest outstanding questions of
contemporary physics. As we fly with the Solar System through the Milky
Way, we constantly plow through a halo of this Dark Matter. Thus there
is a constant head-wind of Dark Matter particles that penetrate everything
and everybody on Earth, much as it is the case for better known particles
such as, for example, neutrinos and cosmic rays. One way to try to unravel
what Dark Matter is made of is then to try to detect some of these particles
as they pass through a detector.
Led by the Columbia University PI, and with continuing support from
the National Science Foundation, the XENON collaboration has installed
and operated in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, in central Italy,
the XENON100 detector, which is at present the most sensitive apparatus
looking for dark matter. After a two years search, the detector has found
no evidence of the presence of dark matter, but has set the most stringent
constraints on its properties. To continue the search for this elusive dark mat-
ter, the collaboration has proposed a new generation detector, XENON1T
(Xenon one ton), with a mass ten times larger than XENON100 and a sen-
sitivity one hundred times better. To be able to realize such an experiment,
several technical challenges must be overcome. This R&D proposal provided
the funds to build the XENON1T Demonstrator, a facility capable to test
some of the key technologies necessary for the construction of XENON1T.
The Demonstrator consists of a cryogenics system and a liquid xenon
detector with a total height of 1 meter similar to what is planned for XENON1T.
It uses novel technologies which enable the application of very high voltages
(up to 100 kilovolts), the fast purifcation of the xenon gas and its efficient
cooling to turn it into liquid.
With this Demonstrator Facility we have achieved the drifting of electrons
over one meter, with an electric field of 1 kV/cm and a liquid xenon
recirculation rate close to 100 liters per minute. The successful operation
of the detector within this R&D project has allowed us to identify effective
solutions to some of the most critical challenges identified during the design of
XENON1T. With the experience gained during this R&D phase we will begin
the construction of the new detector in the next months. The XENON1T
experiment will start operation in 2015, at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran
Sasso, continuing to lead the quest for understanding the nature of dark
matter.
Last Modified: 05/05/2013
Modified by: Elena Aprile
