In the search for Dark Matter a detector with direction-sensitivity is expected to provide the strongest signature in the case of a positive WIMP detection as well as enabling progress towards post-detection dark matter WIMP halo astronomy. DRIFT-II, the current DRIFT detector at Boulby, is the most sensitive directional dark matter in the world.
DRIFT-II is a 1m3 gas-filled Time Projection Chamber (TPC) using electronegative (CS2) gas to reduce diffusion giving maximum track reconstruction resolution. DRIFT can operate in either spin-dependent or spin-independent mode depending on the fill gas mixture used. DRIFT is both limit-setting and undergoing R&D with various studies of technique/system performance and optimisation underway.
Participating institutions:
- Sheffield University
- Edinburgh University
- Occidental College
- MIT
- University of New Mexico
- Colorado State University
