DALPS GOALS

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DALPS is a new consortium gathering Micromegas, Transition edge sensors (TES), Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMC) and Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD) that will improve the sensitivity of X-ray detectors in the context of the International AXion Observatory (IAXO).

Axions are one of the most promising solutions in order to explain the absence of Charge-Parity symmetry violation in the strong interaction. These neutral, very light particles (in the mass range 10^-5 -- 10 eV) interact so weakly with ordinary matter that they could contribute to Dark Matter. Axion search techniques rely on their interaction with photons. This interaction called the Primakoff effect, is the conversion of axions into photons (and vice versa) in the presence of electromagnetic fields. Helioscopes search for axions produced in the solar core by the Primakoff conversion of plasma photons into axions giving rise to a solar axion flux at the Earth surface with a distribution around 1-10 keV.

IAXO		BabyIAXO
x Improve the sensitivity of X-rays detectors in the context of IAXO		x Compare performances of technologies for the BabyIAXO Technical Design Report (TDR)

 

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The objective of DALPS is to establish and to build high sensitivity, low background X-ray detectors, key components for the sensitivity of a helioscope.  The required levels of background are extremely challenging: 10^-7 counts keV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1, a factor 10 better than current levels.

 

 

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Related links

• http://iaxo.web.cern.ch/content/home-international-axion-observatory
• https://gifna.unizar.es/iaxo/