Development of a Technical Design for the Germanium Observatory for Dark Matter at DUSEL

加州理工学院的这项提案要求提供资金，利用CDMS II和SuperCDMS实验技术，开发一个用于锗暗物质天文台(GEODM)的初步设计，这是一个1.5吨的活动质量WIMP搜索实验，WIMP核子弹性散射截面达到2×10，在60GeV WIMP质量下的-47厘米**2次方。探测器将在杜塞尔7400英尺的水平上运行，在低温屏蔽设备内运行，旨在提供4年内每年4.5吨的零本底原始照射。通过一项合作协议，该奖项将资助加州理工学院及其合作者为将在杜塞尔地下实验室建造和运行的此类实验制作初步设计。提出的理由是：(1)最近的技术创新改进是对当前性能的适度风险演变，因此在很大程度上是适合Dusel S4招标的工程工作；(2)CDMS和SuperCDMS之前的工作提供了经经验验证的技术性能和成本基线，将这些估计建立在坚实的基础上；(3)承担这项工作的团队在背景减少、背景拒绝、目标质量增加和科学覆盖方面具有良好的进步记录。由于这些特点，GEODM为显著提高WIMP灵敏度或详细研究DUSEL可能的WIMP信号提供了一条非常有希望的途径。此外，CDMS的合作还贡献了许多其他团体和其他领域正在使用的新技术。GEODM将解决低温探测器的成本挑战，这可能会进一步扩大其用途(例如，用于国土安全)。暗物质研究为学生和博士后提供了多样化的教育和一系列的职业途径，最近授予了六个基于CDMS II工作的博士学位，以及数量可观的前学生和博士后现在担任教员和高级实验室职位就是明证。锗技术在暗物质搜索和无中微子双β衰变研究中的未来取决于为探测器生产节省时间和资源的技术的发展。

This proposal, from the California Institute of Technology, requests funds to develop a Preliminary Design for the Germanium Observatory for Dark Matter (GEODM), a 1.5 ton active mass WIMP search experiment with a WIMP nucleon elastic scattering cross section reach of 2 × 10 to the power of minus 47 cm**2 at 60 GeV WIMP mass using the technology of the CDMS II and SuperCDMS experiments. The detectors will be operated at the DUSEL 7400 foot level within a cryogenic, shielded apparatus designed to provide a zero-background raw exposure of 4.5 ton year over 4 years. The award, through a Cooperative Agreement, will fund the California Institute of Technology and collaborators to produce a Preliminary Design for such an experiment to be constructed and run at the DUSEL underground laboratory. The case is made that (1) recent technical innovations improvements are a moderate risk evolution from current performance and thus are largely an engineering effort appropriate to the DUSEL S4 solicitation; (2) prior efforts on CDMS and SuperCDMS provide empirically verified technical performance and cost baselines, placing these estimates on a solid foundation; and (3) the team undertaking this effort has a proven strong track record of such evolutionary gains in background reduction, background rejection, increased target mass, and scientific reach. Because of these characteristics, GEODM provides an extremely promising path to significant gains in WIMP sensitivity or to detailed study of a possible WIMP signal at DUSEL. Further, the CDMS collaboration has contributed many novel technologies now in use by other groups and in other fields. GEODM will address the cost challenges of cryogenic detectors, which will likely broaden even further their use (e.g., for homeland security). Dark matter research provides students and postdocs with a diverse education and range of career avenues, as evidenced by the recent granting of six PhDs based on CDMS II work and the impressive number of former students and postdocs now in faculty and senior level laboratory positions. The future of germanium technology in dark matter searches, and in the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay, rests on the development of time and resource-saving techniques for detector production.