Systems for detecting and measuring backgrounds with the SABRE South experiment

TL;DR

The paper describes the design and implementation of background detection and measurement systems for the SABRE South dark matter experiment, which aims to identify annual modulation signals in NaI(Tl) crystals by reducing and understanding backgrounds.

Contribution

It introduces the background detection and measurement systems for SABRE South, including the liquid scintillator veto and muon detection modules, enhancing background understanding in dark matter searches.

Findings

Successful design of a liquid scintillator veto system

Effective muon detection with 5 cm resolution

Enhanced background measurement capabilities for SABRE South

Abstract

The SABRE (Sodium iodide with Active Background REjection) experiment aims to detect an annual rate modulation from dark matter interactions in ultra-high purity NaI(Tl) crystals which will provide a model independent test of the signal observed by DAMA/LIBRA. SABRE will consist of two separate detectors in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. SABRE South will be located in the newly completed Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), the first deep underground laboratory in the southern hemisphere. The combination of SABRE North and South is intended to disentangle seasonal or site-related effects from the dark matter-like modulated signal. Measuring and understanding backgrounds is essential for the reliability and consistent performance of these searches, and as the first large detector in SUPL SABRE South will also be used to measure backgrounds from radiogenic and cosmogenic sources. The SABRE South veto system is designed to detect the signals generated by radiation and cosmic rays using a 12 kL linear alkyl-benzene (LAB) based liquid scintillator (LS) detector contained in a steel vessel and instrumented with 18 Hamamatsu R5912 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), alongside a plane of 8 plastic scintillator modules (instrumented with 2 R13089 PMTs) located above the vessel to reliably detect muons from cosmic-rays with a position resolution of 5 cm.