News & Events

The SENSEI and DAMIC experiments have achieved competitive sensitivity to dark matter interactions in the 1 to 1000 MeV/c^2 mass range by repurposing the Charged Coupled Device (CCD) technology that was originally developed for Ultra-violet to Infra-red photon detection. In the next mass range, between 1 and 1,000 GeV/c^2, the most sensitive experiments rely on single photon detectors for the detection of the scintillation light in liquid Xenon and liquid Argon. The drive towards highest sensitivity has led to the use of silicon based photon detectors, because they offer high performance with lowest radioactive content. In general, the Astro-particle physics community has indeed be a major driver in the development of new light sensors sensitive to single photons. We will show that Single Photon Avalance Diode (SPAD) arrays with integrated electronics are the leading candidate to equip future dark matter search experiments based on liquid Xenon and Argon, and we will also show that this technology may also be compete with CCDS in the lower mass range. We will then show how the same technology can be used for analysis air content. A key application is for managing forest fire by enabling their early detection before the get out of control with the devastating consequences that are now plaguing most Canadian summers. This presentation will be a journey from basic research to tackling one of the most pressing issue related to climate change in Canada with single photon technology as the common thread.

The McDonald Institute seminar will be held in Stirling 501. A zoom link is also available and was shared via email from Aaron Vincent. Please reach out to him to get access.