CPAD Workshop 2022

Progress Towards HeRALD: The Helium Roton Apparatus for Light Dark Matter

30 Nov 2022, 15:15

20m

Lecture Hall 2 (Wang Center)

Contribution Talk WG4: Quantum and Superconducting Detectors WG4: Quantum and Superconducting Detectors

Speaker

Doug Pinckney (Member@umass.edu)

Description

The HeRALD experiment uses the unique properties of superfluid ${}^4$He to study dark matter-nucleon scattering in the sub-GeV mass range. In particular, HeRALD uses quantum evaporation from vibrational quasiparticles as well as singlet and triplet electronic excitations to determine the energy and nature of particle interaction in the detector. In this talk I will present progress towards the observation of the quantum evaporation signal using an athermal phonon detector. I will also discuss the broader R&D program, with an emphasis on the helium and materials physics we will study to refine the detector and push the nuclear recoil detection threshold as low as possible.

Presentation materials

pinckney_cpad_2022.pdf