The DAMIC-M Low Background Chamber

TL;DR

The DAMIC-M experiment employs advanced CCD detectors in a low-background environment to search for light dark matter with unprecedented sensitivity, with the LBC prototype demonstrating key technical capabilities since 2022.

Contribution

This paper presents the design, construction, and performance evaluation of the DAMIC-M Low Background Chamber as a prototype for dark matter detection.

Findings

Characterized skipper CCDs and dark current levels.

Measured radiopurity of materials for DAMIC-M.

Tested subsystems like electronics and data acquisition.

Abstract

The DArk Matter In CCDs at Modane (DAMIC-M) experiment is designed to search for light dark matter (m$_{\chi}$<10\,GeV/c$^2$) at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) in France. DAMIC-M will use skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) as a kg-scale active detector target. Its single-electron resolution will enable eV-scale energy thresholds and thus world-leading sensitivity to a range of hidden sector dark matter candidates. A DAMIC-M prototype, the Low Background Chamber (LBC), has been taking data at LSM since 2022. The LBC provides a low-background environment, which has been used to characterize skipper CCDs, study dark current, and measure radiopurity of materials planned for DAMIC-M. It also allows testing of various subsystems like readout electronics, data acquisition software, and slow control. This paper describes the technical design and performance of the LBC.