DMTPC: A dark matter detector with directional sensitivity

TL;DR

The paper introduces the DMTPC detector, a directional dark matter detector capable of measuring nuclear recoil directions to identify WIMPs unambiguously, demonstrating its ability to determine recoil directions with high angular resolution.

Contribution

It presents the design, operation, and initial results of the DMTPC detector, a novel TPC with directional sensitivity for dark matter detection.

Findings

Measured nuclear recoil directions down to 100 keV

Achieved angular resolution of less than 15 degrees

Operated detector in a low-background environment

Abstract

By correlating nuclear recoil directions with the Earth's direction of motion through the Galaxy, a directional dark matter detector can unambiguously detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), even in the presence of backgrounds. Here, we describe the Dark Matter Time-Projection Chamber (DMTPC) detector, a TPC filled with CF4 gas at low pressure (0.1 atm). Using this detector, we have measured the vector direction (head-tail) of nuclear recoils down to energies of 100 keV with an angular resolution of <15 degrees. To study our detector backgrounds, we have operated in a basement laboratory on the MIT campus for several months. We are currently building a new, high-radiopurity detector for deployment underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility in New Mexico.