SuperCDMS SNOLAB Research and Development

SuperCDMS SNOLAB is a next generation dark matter detector proposed for the SNOLAB laboratory in Ontario, Canada. The experiment contains an array of germanium and silicon detectors designed to search for WIMP dark matter. Northwestern University is a member of the SuperCDMS Collaboration and has been identified as having unique capabilities to address some of the key research and development issues for SuperCDMS SNOLAB, all related to measuring for the first time the ionization response of SuperCDMS detectors to nuclear recoils in the recoil energy range between 0.1 and 1 keV. The Fermilab/Northwestern groups are leading a nuclear energy scale calibration effort using neutron beams and backing detectors to perform kinematic reconstruction of the neutron recoil energies in the detector. The Northwestern Experimental Underground Site (NEXUS) at Fermilab is a detector prototyping and calibration facility being built in the NUMI tunnel in collaboration between FNAL and Northwestern. NEXUS enables accurate calibration of full-size SuperCDMS detectors in a low background environment and prototyping and testing of future detectors.