First result from tetrafluoroethane (C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$) superheated emulsion detector for dark matter search at JUSL

TL;DR

This paper reports the first results from a superheated emulsion detector using tetrafluoroethane for dark matter search at JUSL, demonstrating its sensitivity and potential for detecting WIMPs in underground experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel superheated emulsion detector with tetrafluoroethane for dark matter detection and provides initial experimental results from JUSL underground laboratory.

Findings

Detector ran for 48.6 days with 2.47 kg-days exposure.

Minimum sensitivity of SI-nucleon for carbon at 22.81 GeV/c² WIMP mass.

Threshold WIMP masses of 5.16 GeV/c² for fluorine and 4.44 GeV/c² for carbon.

Abstract

The superheated emulsion detector consisting of the droplets of tetra-fluoroethane (C2HC$_2$H$_2$F$_4$2F4) has been fabricated at the laboratory and installed at the 555m deep underground laboratory, JUSL during July to Dec 2022. The 500ml detector ran for an effective period of 48.6 days at a threshold of 5.87 keV with an exposure of 2.47 kg-days. The acoustic signals produced due to the bubble nucleation were collected by the acoustic sensor and FPGAbased data acquisition system. The data shows a minimum sensitivity of SI-nucleon for carbon at WIMP mass of 22.81 GeV/c$^2$ and SD (p) for fluorine at 30.67 GeV/c$^2$. The threshold of WIMP mass is 5.16 GeV/c$^2$ for F and 4.44 GeV/c$^2$ for C at the operating threshold of 5.87 keV. The first result of the dark matter direct search experiment named InDEx with tetra-fluoro-ethane active liquid from JUSL underground laboratory is reported in this article.