A Proposal to Operate the COUPP-60 Bubble Chamber at SNOLAB
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.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 993873
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PROPOSAL-0999; TRN: US1100065
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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