• DOI:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.032006
• Corpus ID: 62887381

First search for a dark matter annual modulation signal with NaI(Tl) in the Southern Hemisphere by DM-Ice17

@article{Souza2016FirstSF,
  title={First search for a dark matter annual modulation signal with NaI(Tl) in the Southern Hemisphere by DM-Ice17},
  author={DM-Ice Collaboration E. Barbosa de Souza and J. J. Cherwinka and Amanda Cole and A. C. Ezeribe and Darren Grant and Francis Halzen and K M Heeger and Leon Hsu and A. J. F. Hubbard and Jay Hyun Jo and Albrecht Karle and Matthew Kauer and V. A. Kudryavtsev and K. E. Lim and C. Macdonald and Reina Maruyama and Fr'ed'eric Mouton and Sean Paling and W. Pettus and Zachary Pierpoint and Bethany Reilly and Max Robinson and Field Rogers and P. W. Sandstrom and Andrew Scarff and N. J. C. Spooner and Sam Telfer and L. Yang},
  journal={Physical Review D},
  year={2016},
  volume={95},
  pages={032006}
}

• DM-Ice Collaboration E. Barbosa de Souza, J. Cherwinka, +25 authors L. Yang
• Published 18 February 2016
• Environmental Science
• Physical Review D

The first search for a dark matter annual modulation signal with NaI(Tl) target material in the Southern Hemisphere conducted with the DM-Ice17 experiment is presented. DM-Ice17 consists of 17 kg of NaI(Tl) scintillating crystal under 2200 m.w.e. overburden of Antarctic glacial ice. The analysis presented here utilizes a 60.8 kg yr exposure. While unable to exclude the signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA, the DM-Ice17 data are consistent with no modulation in the energy range of 4-20 keV, providing the strongest limits on WIMP candidates from a direct detection experiment located in the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, the successful deployment and stable operation of 17 kg of NaI(Tl) crystal over 3.5 years establishes the South Pole ice as a viable location for future underground, low-background experiments.