Prototype of the germanium-based iZIP detector to be used in the SuperCDMS-SNOLAB experiment to look for evidence of dark matter. (Photo credit: )
Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (Super CDMS) aims to measure the signals from exotic particles called WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) as they pass through a detector made of germanium. It is an international, multimillion dollar dark matter experiment currently based in Minnesota.
Funding has recently been announced that will allow SuperCDMS to build a more sensitive detector to be placed at SNOLAB, an underground science laboratory specializing in neutrino and dark matter physics, located 2 km below the surface in the Vale Creighton Mine located near Sudbury Ontario Canada.
WIMPs which are hypothesized to be one of the major components of the as-yet-undetected “dark matter” that makes up about a quarter of the total amount of mass and energy in the universe.
