Looking for Low-Mass WIMPs with TREX-DM

Dafni, Theopisti "Looking for Low-Mass WIMPs with TREX-DM" in Proceedings of the 13th "Patras" Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, PATRAS 2017 / Maroudas, Marios (eds.), Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron : 2018 ; Patras 2017 : 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, 2017-05-15 - 2017-05-19, Thessaloniki 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, AXION-WIMP 2017, Thessaloniki, Greece, 15 May 2017 - 19 May 2017; Hamburg : Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY-PROC, 122-125 (2018). doi:10.3204/DESY-PROC-2017-02/dafni_theopisti
TREX-DM is a low-mass WIMP detector: a gas time projection chamber (TPC) equipped with novel micromesh gas structures (Micromegas) readout planes. In the fiducial volume of $\sim$20 litres and a pressure of 10$\;$bar, there will be approx. 0.160$\;$kg of Ne, or alternatively 0.300$\;$kg of Ar. The energy threshold foreseen is well below 0.4~keVee and the expected background level is better than 10 counts keV$^{-1}$kg$^{-1}$d$^{-1}$, and could give competitive results in the search for low-mass WIMPs. The experiment has recently been approved by the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc and is expected to be commissioned by the end of the current year. We report on the status of the project.
Published by Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg