Recording available at https://mediaspace.carleton.ca/media/Probing+Dark+Matter+with+Single+Ph….
Probing Dark Matter with Single Photon Sensors
Single photon detection technology is becoming widespread, entering the consumer markets, after years of development within the broader subatomic physics community. This evolution is driven by the emergence of Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays, silicon detectors that can be easily combined with high performance readout electronics in order to convert photon input stimuli into digital information (timing and photon count). At the same time, dark matter continues to evade detection, even though it is well motivated by numerous cosmological and astronomical arguments. We will show that the new generation of single photon sensor is enabling the development of next generation dark matter detector with greatly enhance sensitivity. We will discuss the prospect of detecting dark matter interactions in noble liquid detectors with single photon sensors, and also directly inside the sensors themselves. Finally, we will broaden the scope of the talk beyond physics showing emerging applications that are designed to help address the issue of climate change.
Bio
As head of TRIUMF Science Technology Department within the Physical Science Division, my role is to coordinate the resources provided by my department for the design and construction of a variety of physics experiments, including support to the Ultra-Cold Neutron and ISAC programs at TRIUMF, the ATLAS and ALPHA programs at CERN, and the various experiments at SNOLAB. The primary aim of my research is investigating the nature of dark matter and neutrinos. Dark matter is a key element of the standard model of cosmology, its nature is not known. I am involved in a suite of experiments (DEAP-3600 currently running; DarkSide-20k being constructed and ARGO being designed) using liquid argon to search for interactions of a dark matter candidate called WIMP, Weakly Interacting Massive Particle. I am also involved in the nEXO experiment, being designed to search for the neutrino-less double beta decay in liquid xenon.