DarkSide-20k
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| DarkSide-20k | |
|---|---|
| Name | DarkSide-20k |
| Type | Particle detector |
| Location | Gran Sasso National Laboratory |
| Start | 2019 |
| Status | Planned |
| Goals | Direct detection of dark matter |
DarkSide-20k is a proposed large-scale liquid argon time projection chamber designed to search for weakly interacting massive particles in the cosmic neighborhood. The project builds on earlier experiments and collaborations including DarkSide-50, DEAP-3600, XENON1T, LUX-ZEPLIN, PandaX, and CRESST, aiming to combine advancements from CERN-affiliated groups and United States, Italian, and European institutions. The collaboration draws expertise from laboratories and universities such as INFN, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Princeton University, MIT, University of Chicago, and Imperial College London.
Introduction
DarkSide-20k follows a lineage of direct-detection efforts including DAMA/NaI, CDMS-II, CoGeNT, SIMPLE experiment, and ZEPLIN-III, and seeks to address tensions with results like those from PICO Collaboration and ANITA. The detector concept leverages techniques developed for ICARUS, MicroBooNE, and ArgoNeuT to achieve background discrimination through pulse-shape analysis and three-dimensional reconstruction, drawing on hardware and analysis methods from ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, and LHCb collaborators.
Detector Design and Technology
The core design is a dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber inspired by work at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and TRIUMF. The cryostat, cryogenics, and purification systems were prototyped with contributions from Nikhef, CEA Saclay, Max Planck Institute for Physics, and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Photon detection will use silicon photomultipliers developed in collaboration with Hamamatsu Photonics groups and tested alongside components from KIPAC and INR RAS. Readout electronics adopt architectures used in DUNE and Hyper-Kamiokande R&D, while high-voltage and field cage design references techniques from EXO-200 and NEXT. Material assay and low-radioactivity procurement involved SNOLAB, Boulby Underground Laboratory, Yangyang Laboratory, and Modane Underground Laboratory expertise to reduce contamination from isotopes studied at Gran Sasso, LNGS, and Baksan Neutrino Observatory.
Scientific Goals and Sensitivity
Primary goals include reaching sensitivity comparable to projected limits from LUX-ZEPLIN and complementary parameter space explored by XENONnT, targeting spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections below levels reported by CDMSlite and probing regions relevant to interpretations of Galactic Center excess and models motivated by Supersymmetry, Asymmetric dark matter, and effective field theory frameworks. The experiment intends to test anomalies associated with CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA claims, provide constraints useful for Planck (spacecraft) cosmological models, and offer inputs relevant to searches at LHC experiments like ATLAS and CMS for weakly interacting dark-sector mediator scenarios.
Site and Infrastructure
Planned siting at Gran Sasso National Laboratory leverages proximity to infrastructures used by experiments such as Borexino, OPERA, ICARUS refurbishment, and GALLEX. The underground location offers shielding similar to that of SNOLAB and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory deployments. Facility support, including heavy lifting, cleanrooms, and radiopurity screening, coordinates with INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories operations and local partners like Università degli Studi dell'Aquila and Università degli Studi di Milano. Logistics and transportation planning reference procedures used by CERN and the European Space Agency for large cryogenic modules and utilize standards from ISO-certified industrial partners.
Collaboration and Project History
The collaboration formed from groups active in DarkSide-50, DSER, ArDM, and liquid-argon R&D consortia, with governance modeled on collaborations like DUNE, KM3NeT, and Super-Kamiokande. Key institutional partners include INFN, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Liverpool, and University of Manchester. Funding proposals have been submitted to agencies such as European Research Council, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, and national ministries with precedents in allocations for LHC detector upgrades and neutrino facilities.
Backgrounds, Shielding, and Calibration
Mitigation strategies target radioisotopes identified by assays at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, focusing on reducing 39Ar via underground argon production followed techniques demonstrated by URENA and DarkSide-50 procurements. Shielding concepts combine water tanks and active vetoes similar to those deployed in GERDA and CUORE, and calibration systems adopt approaches from SNO+, Borexino, and KamLAND with insertion systems tested at TRIUMF and Fermilab Test Beam Facility. Cosmogenic and neutron backgrounds are modeled using packages and methods used by GEANT4-based studies done for SuperCDMS, MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, and COHERENT.
Timeline and Status
Project milestones reference prototypes and demonstrators such as those at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, cryostat tests influenced by CERN cryogenics programs, and schedule planning informed by timelines from XENON and LUX experiments. Procurement phases, assembly, and commissioning are staged to align with availability of underground space and funding cycles similar to DUNE and LZ; the collaboration continues to seek permissions, partners, and resources akin to previous international science projects funded by European Commission and national agencies.