CDMS

DEAP/CLEAN

EASS

Dark Matter Detection

Astronomers have found that 22% of the universe is composed of matter which does not absorb or emit light like normal matter. We collaborate on two experiments trying to be the first in the world to detect this so-called non-baryonic dark matter. One, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS), uses advanced cryogenic detectors: semiconductor crystals of Ge or Si with thin-film superconducting transition-edge sensors, cooled down to four hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. These detectors provide the highest quality and quantity of information of any WIMP-search experiment, resulting in the best discovery potential of any direct dark matter search, and have yielded the world's most sensitive published limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section. The second experimental program, DEAP/CLEAN, uses the unique properties of liqud argon and neon. This technique is particularly well suited to scaling up to an extremely large detector that is ultimately desired.

Experimental Astrophysics and Surface Science

Our main research area is the study of physical and chemical processes that take place in space. Currently, we work on two projects: the study of the formation of molecular hydrogen in the interstellar medium (ISM) and the study of the formation of molecules of origin-of-life interest in the ISM and in planetary atmospheres. Molecular hydrogen and molecules of biogenic interest are catalyzed on interstellar dust and ices, and on aerosol particles in planetary atmospheres. Purpose of our research is to find out how efficient the catalytic formation on grains is, the processes that control it, which molecules are efficiently synthesized, and how molecule formation influences the physical/chemical properties of interstellar environments.

We use tools that we have employed in the research of properties of solid surfaces (atom-surface interaction, surface morphology, phase transitions in ultra-thin films, thin film growth). They are: atomic/molecular beam, low temperature, and ultra-high vacuum techniques; laser spectroscopy (REMPI); Atom Force Microscopy; LEED/Auger; and MBE/vapor deposition of solid films.

Theoretical studies conducted in collaboration with colleagues at other institutions use experimental findings to predict the physical/chemical evolution of ISM/planetary environments.