Speaker
Description
The CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) experiment, installed at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), is suited for direct detection of dark matter particles via elastic scattering off nuclei of CaWO$_{4}$.
CRESST uses an array of crystals (24 g each) operated as cryogenic calorimeters, each equipped with a cryogenic light detector.
An interaction in the CaWO$_{4}$ crystal produces a phonon and light signal: the phonon signal allows a precise energy measurement, the light signal is used to discriminate the expected dark matter signal (nuclear recoil) from the dominant background (electron/gamma and alpha). In early 2018, CRESST completed an initial data taking campaign reaching nuclear recoil thresholds of 30.1 eV. This unprecedented low threshold allows to probe dark matter particle masses below 500 MeV/$c^{2}$ and down to 160 MeV/$c^{2}$.
Most recent results are presented and discussed. The perspective for the next phase of the experiment will be also discussed.
