Abstract
We report the first analysis of background data from DM-Ice17, a direct-detection dark matter experiment consisting of 17 kg of NaI(Tl) target material. It was codeployed with IceCube 2457 m deep in the South Pole glacial ice in December 2010 and is the first such detector operating in the Southern Hemisphere. The background rate in the 6.5-8.0keVee region is measured to be 7.9±0.4counts/day/keV/kg. This is consistent with the expected background from the detector assemblies with negligible contributions from the surrounding ice. The successful deployment and operation of DM-Ice17 establishes the South Pole ice as a viable location for future underground, low-background experiments in the Southern Hemisphere. The detector assembly and deployment are described here, as well as the analysis of the DM-Ice17 backgrounds based on data from the first two years of operation after commissioning, July 2011-June 2013.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 092005 |
Journal | Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology |
Volume | 90 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 10 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)