2008/10/01 by J. -C. Lanfranchi, J.-C. Lanfranchi, C. Ciemniak +35 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0810.0132
6 pages, 7 figures, To appear in the proceedings of CryoScint08 (http://cryoscint08.in2p3.fr), Univ. Lyon 1, France, June 6th 2008, P. Di Stefano (IPN Lyon) and F. Petricca (MPP Munich) eds
arxiv created 2008/10/01 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) is an experiment located at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory and aimed at the direct detection of dark matter in the form of WIMPs. The setup has just completed a one year commissioning run in 2007 and is presently starting a physics run with an increased target mass. Scintillating CaWO4 single crystals, operated at temperatures of a few millikelvin, are used as target to detect the tiny nuclear recoil induced by a WIMP. The powerful background identification and rejection of α, e- and γ events is realized via the simultaneous measurement of a phonon and a scintillation signal generated in the CaWO4 crystal. However, neutrons could still be misidentified as a WIMP signature. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the individual recoil behaviour in terms of phonon generation and scintillation light emission due to scattering on Ca, O or W nuclei, respectively, is mandatory. The only setup which allows to perform such measurements at the operating temperature of the CRESST detectors has been installed at the Maier-Leibnitz-Accelerator Laboratory in Garching and is presently being commissioned. The design of this neutron scattering facility is such that it can also be used for other target materials, e.g. ZnWO4, PbWO4 and others as foreseen in the framework of the future multitarget tonne-scale experiment EURECA (European Underground Rare Event Calorimeter Array).