Simulation-based design study for the passive shielding of the COSINUS dark matter experiment

Abstract

The COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) experiment aims at the detection of dark matter-induced recoils in sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as scintillating cryogenic calorimeters. The detection of both scintillation light and phonons allows performing an event-by-event signal to background discrimination, thus enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment. The construction of the experimental facility is foreseen to start by 2021 at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. It consists of a cryostat housing the target crystals shielded from the external radioactivity by a water tank acting, at the same time, as an active veto against cosmic ray-induced events. Taking into account both environmental radioactivity and intrinsic contamination of materials used for cryostat, shielding and infrastructure, we performed a careful background budget estimation. The goal is to evaluate the number of events that could mimic or interfere with signal detection while optimising the geometry of the experimental setup. In this paper we present the results of the detailed Monte Carlo simulations we performed, together with the final design of the setup that minimises the residual amount of background particles reaching the detector volume.

arXiv comment12 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (23)

• First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program
• The DAMA/LIBRA apparatus
• Semi-empirical calculation of quenching factors for ions in scintillators
• First model independent results from DAMA/LIBRA-phase2
• Muon simulation codes MUSIC and MUSUN for underground physics
• Search for a Dark Matter-Induced Annual Modulation Signal in NaI(Tl) with the COSINE-100 Experiment
• Neutron Flux at the Gran Sasso Underground LaboratoryRevisited
• First results on dark matter annual modulation from ANAIS-112 experiment
• The SABRE project and the SABRE PoP
• Muon `Depth -- Intensity' Relation Measured by LVD Underground Experiment and Cosmic-Ray Muon Spectrum at Sea Level
• Material screening and selection for XENON100
• The COSINUS project - perspectives of a NaI scintillating calorimeter for dark matter search
• Low energy neutron propagation in MCNPX and GEANT4
• CUORE-0 detector: design, construction and operation
• Material radioassay and selection for the XENON1T dark matter experiment
• Dark-Matter Harmonics Beyond Annual Modulation
• Model-independent comparison of annual modulation and total rate with direct detection experiments
• Neutron- and muon-induced background in underground physics experiments
• Measurement and simulation of the muon-induced neutron yield in lead
• Results from the first cryogenic NaI detector for the COSINUS project
• Neutron production induced by $\alpha$-decay with Geant4
• Dark matter search project PICO-LON
• Results of the first NaI scintillating calorimeter prototypes by COSINUS

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Deep-underground dark matter search with a COSINUS detector prototype
• Rare ${}^{40}$K decay with implications for fundamental physics and geochronology
• Evidence for ground-state electron capture of ${}^{40}$K
• Water Cherenkov muon veto for the COSINUS experiment: design and simulation optimization