Results from a search for light-mass dark matter with a p-type point contact germanium detector
C E Aalseth1, P S Barbeau, N S Bowden
1Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, USA.
Abstract:
We report on several features in the energy spectrum from an ultralow-noise germanium detector operated deep underground. By implementing a new technique able to reject surface events, a number of cosmogenic peaks can be observed for the first time. We discuss an irreducible excess of bulklike events below 3 keV in ionization energy. These could be caused by unknown backgrounds, but also dark matter interactions consistent with DAMA/LIBRA. It is not yet possible to determine their origin. Improved constraints are placed on a cosmological origin for the DAMA/LIBRA effect.
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