The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search is an international experiment on the hunt for dark matter, currently based in Minnesota and with plans to progress the project by building a more sensitive detector at Canada’s SNOLAB. SNOLAB announced the selection of SuperCDMS by US funding agencies as one of its major second-generation dark matter projects, receiving support for construction and operation at its underground facility. With searches for dark matter gaining full speed around the world, this project will bring forth Canadian talent to lead the charge!
Utilizing state-of-the-art cryogenic germanium detectors, the SuperCDMS (SCDMS) collaboration searches for dark matter particles, also known as weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The discovery of these particles could resolve the dark matter problem, revolutionizing particle physics and cosmology. The use of underground facility at SNOLAB will provide shielding from cosmogenic events and as a result, reduce interference of known background particles. To search for dark matter, SCDMS scientists cool their detectors to very low temperatures in order to detect the very small energies deposited by the collisions of dark matter particles with the germanium.
Dr. Scott Oser, UBC Professor of Physics, leads the Data Acquisition group with the SCDMS collaboration. He says, “The UBC group, with assistance from TRIUMF, has been developing a new data acquisition system for the experiment that will allow it to efficiently detect the lowest energy interactions possible. SuperCDMS will have particularly good sensitivity to light WIMPS (if they exist!) We are thrilled to be part of the project and welcome SuperCDMS to Canada.”
Dr. Nigel Smith, SNOLAB Director, was delighted with the decision; “Attracting major international projects to our facilities in Sudbury has been one of the major objectives for SNOLAB since our inception, and so this decision by the US funding agencies is really great news. Researchers from around the world will be converging on Sudbury to build and operate this major project, including Canadian SCDMS collaborators at Queen's University and University of British Columbia. We all look forward to welcoming the SCDMS collaboration to our facility, and helping them deliver new physics results from this exciting experiment."
Prepared from a SNOLAB press release.
Top photo: Prototype iZIP detector for SuperCDMS SNOLAB
Bottom photo: Proposed layout for the SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment