The Sanford Underground Research Facility at Homestake

TL;DR

The Sanford Underground Research Facility at Homestake is a versatile underground lab in South Dakota, supporting physics, biology, geology, and engineering research, with ongoing expansion for future experiments like dark matter detection and neutrino studies.

Contribution

This paper details the transformation of the Homestake mine into a multi-disciplinary underground research facility with ongoing and planned expansions for advanced physics experiments.

Findings

Hosts major physics experiments like LUX and MAJORANA.

Expanding infrastructure to support future dark matter and neutrino experiments.

Supports research in biology, geology, and engineering underground.

Abstract

The former Homestake gold mine in Lead, South Dakota has been transformed into a dedicated facility to pursue underground research in rare-process physics, as well as offering research opportunities in other disciplines such as biology, geology and engineering. A key component of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) is the Davis Campus, which is in operation at the 4850-foot level (4300 m.w.e.) and currently hosts two main physics projects: the LUX dark matter experiment and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment. In addition, two low-background counters currently operate at the Davis Campus in support of current and future experiments. Expansion of the underground laboratory space is underway at the 4850L Ross Campus in order to maintain and enhance low-background assay capabilities as well as to host a unique nuclear astrophysics accelerator facility. Plans to accommodate other future experiments at SURF are also underway and include the next generation of direct-search dark matter experiments and the Fermilab-led international long-baseline neutrino program. Planning to understand the infrastructure developments necessary to accommodate these future projects is well advanced and in some cases have already started. SURF is a dedicated research facility with significant expansion capability.