Development of Low Background Sodium Iodide Scintillation Detectors for Dark Matter Research

用于暗物质研究的低本底碘化钠闪烁探测器的开发

基本信息

批准号：
1242625
负责人：
Frank Calaprice
金额：
$ 75.1万
依托单位：
Princeton University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2012
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2012-09-15 至 2016-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1242625&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Development Low Background Sodium Iodide

项目摘要

The origin of dark matter is one of the major scientific questions of our time. The DAMA/LIBRA experiment at the Underground Laboratory at Gran Sasso, Italy (LNGS) has reported a signal that is claimed to be evidence for dark matter in the form of elementary particles called Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). However, their results seem to be in conflict with other experiments that have searched for dark matter with null results. The situation will be unclear until an independent experiment with Sodium Iodide (NaI) detectors is done with lower background.This award will provide funds to develop low-background sodium iodide scintillation crystals for a sensitive dark matter search. Prior research, which was supported by an NSF EAGER grant, focused on the purification of precursor materials that are used for producing NaI powder. The activities planned with this award will be to a) address issues concerning the development of high purity low background NaI scintillation crystals grown with the high purity NaI powder and b) develop a sensitive method to measure the potassium radioactivity in the crystals to verify the very low levels needed for dark matter research. A possible second phase of research will be to deploy an array of such detectors in a low background environment that will allow a search for WIMP dark matter with lower background and higher sensitivity than achieved in the DAMA/LIBRA experiment.Broader impacts: Understanding the nature of dark matter would impact many fields of science from the largest scale of astronomy to the smallest scale of elementary particle physics. It is a mysterious form of matter that will connect to all fields once it is understood. In addition, the technology developed here, with demands on ultrapure materials, will benefit other fields that rely on such materials, such as semiconductors and nanotechnology devices.

暗物质的起源是我们这个时代的主要科学问题之一。意大利格兰·萨索（Gran Sasso）（LNGS）的地下实验室的Dama/Libra实验报告了一个信号，该信号被认为是暗物质的证据，其形式称为基本颗粒，称为弱相互作用的质量较弱的巨型颗粒（Wimps）。但是，他们的结果似乎与其他搜索暗物质并以无效结果的实验相抵触。在使用较低背景的碘化钠（NAI）检测器进行独立的实验之前，情况将不清楚。该奖项将提供资金来开发低背碘化钠闪烁晶体，以进行敏感的暗物质搜索。先前的研究得到了NSF急切的赠款的支持，该研究重点是用于生产NAI粉末的前体材料的纯化。该奖项计划的活动将是a）解决有关高纯度低背景的问题的问题，NAI闪烁晶体与高纯度NAI粉末和b）开发了一种敏感方法，以测量晶体中钾的放射性，以验证深色物质研究所需的非常低的水平。研究的第二阶段将是在低背景环境中部署一系列此类探测器，这将允许在Dama/Libra实验中搜索具有较低背景的WIMP暗物质和更高的灵敏度。公民的影响：理解暗物质的性质会影响许多科学领域，从最大的天文学到基本粒子物理学的最大规模。这是一种神秘的物质形式，一旦理解为所有领域。此外，此处开发的技术以及对超纯材料的需求，将使依赖此类材料（例如半导体和纳米技术设备）的其他领域受益。