Eur. Phys. J. C (2017) 77: 752
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5313-8

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

MOSCAB: a geyser-concept bubble chamber to be used in a dark matter search

¹ INFN, Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, P.za della Scienza 3, 20126, Milan, Italy
² Universitat Politècnica de València Camino de Vera, s/n 46022, Valencia, Spain
³ INFN, LNGS, Via G. Acitelli 22, 67100, Assergi (L’Aquila), Italy
⁴ ENEA, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Via Anguillarese 301, S. Maria di Galeria, 00123, Rome, Italy
⁵ DIAEE, Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184, Rome, Italy
⁶ Dip. Inform., Sist. e Comunic., Università di Milano-Bicocca, Build. U14 viale Sarca 336, 20126, Milan, Italy
⁷ Dip. di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, P.za della Scienza 3, 20126, Milan, Italy
⁸ INFN, Sezione di Roma La Sapienza, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
⁹ CERN, 1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland
¹⁰ INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio, 30, 10025, Turin, Pino Torinese, Italy
¹¹ DISAT, Università di Milano-Bicocca, P.za della Scienza 3, 20126, Milan, Italy
¹² Dip. di Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Milano-Bicocca, P.za della Scienza 3, 20126, Milan, Italy

^* e-mail: walter.fulgione@lngs.infn.it

Received: 29 July 2017
Accepted: 17 October 2017
Published online: 9 November 2017

Abstract

The MOSCAB experiment (Materia OSCura A Bolle) uses the “geyser technique”, a variant of the superheated liquid technique of extreme simplicity. Operating principles of the new dark matter detector and technical solutions of the device are reported in detail. First results obtained in a series of test runs taken in laboratory demonstrate that we have successfully built and tested a geyser-concept bubble chamber that can be used in particle physics, especially in dark matter searches, and that we are ready to move underground for extensive data taking.