Sensitivity of alkali halide scintillating calorimeters with particle identification to investigate the DAMA dark matter detection claim

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential of alkali halide scintillating calorimeters to verify the DAMA dark matter detection claim, showing that with improved performance, they could provide a definitive test within a few years.

Contribution

The study simulates detector performance of alkali halide scintillating calorimeters for dark matter detection, proposing feasible configurations to test DAMA/LIBRA results with minimal model dependence.

Findings

10 kg-days exposure can test DAMA claim in standard scenarios

A 5 kg detector with background rejection can verify modulation in 2 years

Performance improvements in phonon channels are crucial for sensitivity

Abstract

Scintillating calorimeters are cryogenic detectors combining a measurement of scintillation with one of phonons to provide particle identification. In view of developing alkali halide devices of this type able to check the DAMA/LIBRA claim for the observation of dark matter, we have simulated detector performances to determine their sensitivity by two methods with little model-dependence. We conclude that if performance of the phonon channel can be brought in line with those of other materials, an exposure of 10 kg-days would suffice to check the DAMA/LIBRA claim in standard astrophysical scenarios. Additionally, a fairly modest array of 5 kg with background rejection would be able to directly check the DAMA/LIBRA modulation result in 2 years.