SuperCDMS (Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) is a direct dark matter search experiment using semiconductor detectors at temperatures close to absolute zero. SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment is being commissioned at SNOLAB, an underground laboratory in Canada. At a depth of 2km in SNOLAB, the background due to interaction with cosmic radiation will be strongly suppressed. 

 

Other than the shielding provided by the Earth, the detectors are shielded by copper, lead, and polyethylene to reduce the radioactive background in the laboratory. A dilution refrigerator is used to keep the detectors at ~14mK in a shielded box called SNOBOX. Custom-made electronics which work at low temperatures are used for the transfer of the signal from the detectors and gathered by the data acquisition system. 

 

The individual SuperCDMS detectors are made of silicon and germanium crystals. Particles traveling through the detector interact with the nuclei and the electrons of the atoms in the detector producing phonons i.e. vibrations in the crystal lattice, and charged particles via ionization. The sides of the detector crystal are deposited with superconducting sensors to measure the energy deposited by the particles through ionization and phonons.