Speaker
Ms
Andrea Muenster
(TU Muenchen)
Description
The direct dark matter search experiment CRESST-II uses scintillating CaWO4 single crystals as targets for possible scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The simultaneous measurement of scintillation light and phonons produced in the crystal by a particle interaction allows a suppression of most of the background. Most of the remaining background in the previous phase 1 (2009-2012, G. Angloher et al., Eur. Phys. J. C v.72 nr4 (2012)) originated from alpha-decays in non-scintillating materials in the vicinity of the CaWO4 crystals.
Therefore, in the currently ongoing phase 2 six detector modules equipped with an active veto for such events are installed. In this contribution we will present the results achieved by one of these fully scintillating detector modules using 29 kg days of data taken in 2013 (G. Angloher et al., Eur. Phys. J. C v.74 nr.12 (2014)). A new limit on the elastic WIMP-nucleon scattering cross-section for WIMPs lighter than 3GeV/c^2 could be set.
The upcoming experiment CRESST-III will focus on the investigation of the low-mass WIMP regime. The status of the preparations and prospects for CRESST-III will be presented.
Primary author
Ms
Andrea Muenster
(TU Muenchen)
