Direct dark matter search using large-mass superheated droplet detectors in the PICASSO experiment.

ABSTRACT

The PICASSO experiment investigates the presence and nature of dark matter in the Universe. The experiment is based on the detection of acoustic signals generated in explosive phase transitions induced by dark matter particles. This technique is an alternative more traditional detection technique like scintillation and ionisation, which are largely employed for dark matter search. One of the main advantages of this technique, besides its sensitivity to very low nuclear recoil energies (few keV), is its excellent background suppression features. A pilot experiment consisting of six superheated droplet detectors (40 g of active mass) is presently taking data at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) at a depth of 2000 m. We discuss the operation, calibration and data acquisition of the experiment and also the ongoing work to increase the sensitivity and the active mass of the detectors.