Search

An upgrade of the COSINE-100 experiment, COSINE-100U, has been prepared for installation at Yemilab, a new underground laboratory in Korea, following 6.4 years of operation at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory. The COSINE-100 experiment aimed to investigate the annual modulation signals reported by the DAMA/LIBRA but observed a null result, revealing a more than 3$\sigma$ discrepancy. COSINE-100U seeks to explore new parameter spaces for dark matter detection using NaI(Tl) detectors. All eight NaI(Tl) crystals, with a total mass of 99.1 kg, have been upgraded to improve light collection efficiency, significantly enhancing dark matter detection sensitivity. This paper describes the detector upgrades, performance improvements, and the enhanced sensitivity to low-mass dark matter detection in the COSINE-100U experiment., Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures

COSINE-100 is a direct dark matter search experiment, with the primary goal of testing the annual modulation signal observed by DAMA/LIBRA, using the same target material, NaI(Tl). In previous analyses, we achieved the same 1 keV energy threshold used in the DAMA/LIBRA's analysis that reported an annual modulation signal with 11.6$\sigma$ significance. In this article, we report an improved analysis that lowered the threshold to 0.7 keV, thanks to the application of Multi-Layer Perception network and a new likelihood parameter with waveforms in the frequency domain. The lower threshold would enable a better comparison of COSINE-100 with new DAMA results with a 0.75 keV threshold and account for differences in quenching factors. Furthermore the lower threshold can enhance COSINE-100's sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter searches.

COSINE-100 aims to conclusively test the claimed dark matter annual modulation signal detected by DAMA/LIBRA collaboration. DAMA/LIBRA has released updated analysis results by lowering the energy threshold to 0.75 keV through various upgrades. They have consistently claimed to have observed the annual modulation. In COSINE-100, it is crucial to lower the energy threshold for a direct comparison with DAMA/LIBRA, which also enhances the sensitivity of the search for low-mass dark matter, enabling COSINE-100 to explore this area. Therefore, it is essential to have a precise and quantitative understanding of the background spectrum across all energy ranges. This study expands the background modeling from 0.7 to 4000 keV using 2.82 years of COSINE-100 data. The modeling has been improved to describe the background spectrum across all energy ranges accurately. Assessments of the background spectrum are presented, considering the nonproportionality of NaI(Tl) crystals at both low and high energies and the characteristic X-rays produced by the interaction of external backgrounds with materials such as copper. Additionally, constraints on the fit parameters obtained from the alpha spectrum modeling fit are integrated into this model. These improvements are detailed in the paper.

We present a comprehensive study of the nonproportionality of NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors within the context of dark matter search experiments. Our investigation, which integrates COSINE-100 data with supplementary $\gamma$ spectroscopy, measures light yields across diverse energy levels from full-energy $\gamma$ peaks produced by the decays of various isotopes. These $\gamma$ peaks of interest were produced by decays supported by both long and short-lived isotopes. Analyzing peaks from decays supported only by short-lived isotopes presented a unique challenge due to their limited statistics and overlapping energies, which was overcome by long-term data collection and a time-dependent analysis. A key achievement is the direct measurement of the 0.87 keV light yield, resulting from the cascade following electron capture decay of $^{22}$Na from internal contamination. This measurement, previously accessible only indirectly, deepens our understanding of NaI(Tl) scintillator behavior in the region of interest for dark matter searches. This study holds substantial implications for background modeling and the interpretation of dark matter signals in NaI(Tl) experiments., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

COSINE-100 is a dark matter direct detection experiment with 106 kg NaI(Tl) as the target material. 210Pb and daughter isotopes are a dominant background in the WIMP region of interest and are detected via beta decay and alpha decay. Analysis of the alpha channel complements the background model as observed in the beta/gamma channel. We present the measurement of the quenching factors and Monte Carlo simulation results and activity quantification of the alpha decay components of the COSINE-100 NaI(Tl) crystals. The data strongly indicate that the alpha decays probabilistically undergo two possible quenching factors but require further investigation. The fitted results are consistent with independent measurements and improve the overall understanding of the COSINE-100 backgrounds. Furthermore, the half-life of 216Po has been measured to be 143.4 +/- 1.2 ms, which is consistent with and more precise than recent measurements.

We report the results of a search for inelastic scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) off $^{127}$I nuclei using NaI(Tl) crystals with a data exposure of 97.7 kg$\cdot$years from the COSINE-100 experiment. The signature of inelastic WIMP-$^{127}$I scattering is a nuclear recoil accompanied by a 57.6 keV $\gamma$-ray from the prompt deexcitation, producing a more energetic signal compared to the typical WIMP nuclear recoil signal. We found no evidence for this inelastic scattering signature and set a 90 $\%$ confidence level upper limit on the WIMP-proton spin-dependent, inelastic scattering cross section of $1.2 \times 10^{-37} {\rm cm^{2}}$ at the WIMP mass 500 ${\rm GeV/c^{2}}$., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2104.03537

We present results of a search for bosonic super-weakly interacting massive particles (BSW) as keV scale dark matter candidates that is based on an exposure of 97.7 kg$\cdot$year from the COSINE experiment. In this search, we employ, for the first time, Compton-like as well as absorption processes for pseudoscalar and vector BSWs. No evidence for BSWs is found in the mass range from 10 $\mathrm{keV/c}^2$ to 1 $\mathrm{MeV/c}^2$, and we present the exclusion limits on the dimensionless coupling constants to electrons $g_{ae}$ for pseudoscalar and $\kappa$ for vector BSWs at 90% confidence level. Our results show that these limits are improved by including the Compton-like process in masses of BSW, above $\mathcal{O}(100\,\mathrm{keV/c}^2)$.

COSINE-100 is a direct detection dark matter experiment that aims to test DAMA/LIBRA's claim of dark matter discovery by searching for a dark matter-induced annual modulation signal with NaI(Tl) detectors. We present new constraints on the annual modulation signal from a dataset with a 2.82 yr livetime utilizing an active mass of 61.3 kg, for a total exposure of 173 kg$\cdot$yr. This new result features an improved event selection that allows for both lowering the energy threshold to 1 keV and a more precise time-dependent background model. In the 1-6 keV and 2-6 keV energy intervals, we observe best-fit values for the modulation amplitude of 0.0067$\pm$0.0042 and 0.0051$\pm$0.0047 counts/(day$\cdot$kg$\cdot$keV), respectively, with a phase fixed at 152.5 days., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures