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Scalability of the Super CDMS Experiment

Abstract: SuperCDMS is a dark matter direct detection experiment, searching for evidence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) scattering off conventional matter nuclei. The SuperCDMS experiment is a set of high purity Germanium detectors, operated at cryogenic temperatures. Combined phonon and charge read out of these detectors yields excellent background rejection capabilities, allowing for essentially background free WIMP searches. I will discuss the SuperCDMS experiment and detection strategy, as well as the projected limits for the SuperCDMS Soudan experiment currently operational in the Soudan Underground Lab in Minnesota. I will go on to describe plans for a 2nd generation experiment, SuperCDMS SNOLAB, which aims to improve upon the limits Soudan limits by two orders of magnitude. The detector physics of the SuperCDMS experiment will be discussed in detail, along with the strategy for achieving the high target mass required to reach the SuperCDMS SNOLAB science goals.
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Brandt - SLAC
Speaker Bio: After graduating from high school in northern Germany, I completed an undergraduate physics degree at the University of Leicester, followed by a doctoral degree at the Leicester Space Research Center working on the physics of superconducting tunnel junction calorimeters and on the fundamental physics of the superconducting-to-normal transition. I am currently a post-doctoral research associate at KIPAC, SLAC National Accelerator Lab, leading the detector Monte Carlo simulation group of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) as well as working on a more widely applicable simulation framework for cryogenic solid state calorimeters using the Geant4 Framework.
Poster Link: Poster
Presentation: Presentation on 12/5/2012 (PDF)