The DELight experiment (Direct search Experiment for Light dark matter) is a new experiment that is currently being planned and designed. The noble gas helium 4 serves as the active target, which is particularly well suited for the search for light dark matter due to its low nuclear mass.

 

DELight is equipped with large-area microcalorimeters (LAMCALs), which are based on ultra-sensitive energy detectors known as magnetic microcalorimeters (MMCs). These measure the three distinguishable signal channels generated by the recoil of the helium atoms: Phonons/rotons, photons and helium excimers. In the case of a nuclear recoil, a significantly larger proportion of energy is transferred to phonons and rotons than in the case of an electron recoil, which makes it possible to distinguish between the two signatures and thus suppress the background, which mainly consists of electron scattering. 

 

More information about DELight can be found here. 

To maximize the efficiency and sensitivity of the detector, the optimization of the geometry and a detailed understanding of the background events are of utmost relevance. Therefore, several simulation studies are currently being carried out. 

Once DELight collects data, a software is also needed to process and analyze it. This software called "helix" is also currently being developed.