MRI Consortium: Development of Instrumentation for the PICO-500 Bubble Chamber

MRI 联盟：开发 PICO-500 气泡室仪器

• 批准号: 1828609
• 负责人: Ilan Levine
• 金额: $ 77.05万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1828609&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Consortium; Development; Instrumentation; PICO

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of known particles. Deciphering the nature of this so-called Dark Matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. A leading hypothesis is that it is comprised of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, that were produced moments after the Big Bang. If WIMPs are the dark matter, then their presence in our galaxy may be detectable via scattering from atomic nuclei in detectors located deep underground to help reject backgrounds due to cosmic rays. PICO, a merger of the PICASSO and COUPP collaborations, employs room-temperature super-heated liquids to search for dark matter particle candidates. Previous efforts by PICO at SNOLAB have resulted in a world-leading sensitivity to spin-dependent WIMP-proton couplings. Recent progress in acoustic discrimination against alpha particles and particulate-induced backgrounds will enable the next-generation of PICO bubble chambers to also lead in sensitivity to spin-independent couplings in the WIMP mass range below 10 GeV/c^2. The group has aided the broader scientific community by fabricating specially designed transducers. Several astrophysics experiments are now using acoustic particle identification. The group has also been working with a luthier to develop techniques to measure wood properties and design jazz arch top guitars with predictable sound. A liquid xenon bubble chamber experiment was outfitted with cryogenic-safe transducers to correlate scintillation light with bubble images. The PSU group has developed novel radiopure piezoceramics with properties suggesting ten times greater sensitivity than the best current PZT formulations.This award provides funds to enable the Indiana University South Bend (IUSB), North Eastern Illinois University (NEIU), and Penn State groups to develop hardware and software components of the ton-scale PICO-500 bubble chamber which will be the most sensitive detector for a wide variety of dark matter particle candidates and will serve over 20 research groups around the world. PICO uses superheated liquids to search for the tiny energy depositions left by nuclei recoiling due to collisions with dark matter. These depositions cause the liquid to explosively transform into gas. The IUSB group has designed and fabricated all of the acoustic transducers for the previous detectors. In 2008 the group discovered that it is possible to differentiate the sounds of bubbles created by nuclear recoils from those initiated by alpha decay (the main background). The NEIU team has worked on improving the control and display software necessary for operating the detector. The PSU team has been responsible for fabricating piezoelectric ceramics from radiopure oxides.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

多次天文观测已经证实，宇宙中大约85%的物质不是由已知粒子构成的。破译这种所谓的暗物质的本质对宇宙学、天体物理学和高能粒子物理学至关重要。一个主要的假设是，它是由大爆炸后瞬间产生的弱相互作用大质量粒子（wimp）组成的。如果wimp是暗物质，那么它们在我们星系中的存在可以通过位于地下深处的探测器的原子核散射来检测，以帮助排除宇宙射线造成的背景。PICO是由PICASSO和COUPP合作项目合并而成，采用室温超热液体来寻找暗物质候选粒子。PICO先前在SNOLAB的努力已经产生了世界领先的自旋依赖的wimp -质子耦合灵敏度。最近在对α粒子和粒子诱导背景的声学识别方面取得的进展，将使下一代PICO气泡室在WIMP质量范围低于10 GeV/c^2的范围内，对自旋无关耦合也具有灵敏度。该小组通过制造专门设计的传感器，为更广泛的科学界提供了帮助。几个天体物理学实验现在正在使用声学粒子识别。该团队还与一位制琴师合作，开发测量木材性能的技术，并设计出声音可预测的爵士拱顶吉他。在液态氙气泡室实验中，安装了低温安全传感器，将闪烁光与气泡图像相关联。PSU小组开发了新型的放射性压电陶瓷，其性能比目前最好的PZT配方灵敏度高10倍。该奖项为印第安纳大学南本德分校（IUSB）、东北伊利诺伊大学（NEIU）和宾夕法尼亚州立大学团队提供资金，用于开发吨级PICO-500气泡室的硬件和软件组件，PICO-500气泡室将成为各种暗物质候选粒子最敏感的探测器，并将服务于全球20多个研究团队。PICO使用过热的液体来寻找原子核与暗物质碰撞后反冲留下的微小能量沉积。这些沉积使液体爆炸性地转变为气体。IUSB小组为以前的探测器设计和制造了所有的声学换能器。2008年，该小组发现，可以区分由核反冲产生的气泡的声音和由α衰变（主要背景）产生的气泡的声音。NEIU团队一直致力于改进操作探测器所需的控制和显示软件。PSU团队负责用放射性氧化物制造压电陶瓷。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Scintillating Bubble Chambers for Rare Event Searches

用于罕见事件搜索的闪烁气泡室

• DOI: 10.3390/universe9080346
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Universe
• 影响因子: 2.9
• 作者: Alfonso-Pita, Ernesto;Behnke, Edward;Bressler, Matthew;Broerman, Benjamin;Clark, Kenneth;Corbett, Jonathan;Dahl, C. Eric;Dering, Koby;de St. Croix, Austin;Durnford, Daniel
• 通讯作者: Durnford, Daniel

High-Acoustic Sensitivity Radiopure Piezoelectric Materials for Dark Matter Detection

用于暗物质探测的高声灵敏度放射性纯压电材料

• DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.3c01116
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: ACS Applied Electronic Materials
• 影响因子: 4.7
• 作者: Kang, Min Gyu;Yan, Yongke;Maurya, Deepam;Song, Hyun-Cheol;Yang, Lijuan;Levine, Ilan;Behnke, Edward;Borsodi, Haley;Fustin, Drew;Nanda, Aman
• 通讯作者: Nanda, Aman

Dark matter search results from the complete exposure of the PICO-60 C3F8 bubble chamber

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.100.022001
• 发表时间: 2019-07-09
• 期刊: PHYSICAL REVIEW D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Amole, C.;Ardid, M.;Zhang, J.
• 通讯作者: Zhang, J.

Design and development of high-power piezoelectric ceramics through integration of crystallographic texturing and acceptor-doping

• DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2020.116610
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: Acta Materialia
• 影响因子: 9.4
• 作者: Hao Leng;Yongke Yan;Hairui Liu;M. Fanton;R. Meyer;S. Priya

Nucleation efficiency of nuclear recoils in bubble chambers

气泡室中核反冲的成核效率

• DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/17/01/c01030
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Instrumentation
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Durnford, D.;Piro, M.-C.
• 通讯作者: Piro, M.-C.