Speaker
Description
BULLKID-DM is a new experiment designed to search for low-mass WIMP-like dark matter particles (1~GeV/c$^2$ or below) with nucleon cross-sections below 10$^{-41}$~cm$^2$. The detector consists of an 800~g array of over 2000 silicon dice, each acting as a particle absorber instrumented with multiplexed Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs). Background rejection is achieved through a fully active structure, enabling fiducialization and anticoincidence techniques.
A 20~g prototype, consisting of 60 voxels diced from a 3'' silicon wafer, demonstrated the feasibility of this approach. Following its success, we present the first operation, in a surface laboratory equipped with a lead and copper radiation shield, of a 60~g demonstrator with 180 dice. This setup closely replicates the final experimental configuration. The recorded backgrounds are compared to Geant4 simulations performed by the collaboration.
We also discuss ongoing R\&D activities, including low-radioactivity detector mounting, a cryogenic scintillating veto readout with KIDs, in situ calibration techniques, and detector upgrades such as KIDs with dedicated phonon-collecting structures and germanium substrates for multi-target capabilities.
Finally, we outline the deployment plan of the setup at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS). The demonstrator will be installed at LNGS, in the cryo-platform, by late 2026. Following successful validation, the full experiment is expected to be commissioned in 2027.
| Main Contribution topic | Light Dark Matter |
|---|---|
| Secondary contribution topic | Instrumentation for Dark Matter |