The Definitive Search for Dark Matter Axions
General pictures, plots, and diagrams
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General pictures, plots, and diagrams
Move to CENPA
Insert extraction from dummy cryostat
Lowering the magnet into place
Technical drawings
Microfab & developing quantum electronics
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The magnet top is the only part visible as the experiment runs at LLNL
Leslie shows off the Phase I insert
Phase I featured many intermediate baffles; Phase II will have a total of four baffles
A look inside the cavity
A cartoon of the ADMX medium resolution and high resolution receiver chains
A cartoon of the Phase I insert
The magnet arrives at LLNL
Graduate student Mike Hotz is one of the staff responsible for Phase I operations
The Primakoff effect shows that a large magnetic field helps us detect axions: the magnetic field functions like a sea of virtual
photons, so a larger magnetic field provides more virtual photons for the axions to scatter off and thereby produce a detectable real photon
These three slides show off a bit of the concrete cutting that was done to make room for the ADMX main magnet
The insert hangs from a stand at LLNL
Cartoon and closeup views of a SQUID
A look at the Phase I "insert tree"
At around 100mK, noise temperature begins to assymptotically approach the quantum limit
The main magnet is successfully ramped up to operating field after its move to CENPA; this graph shows the current through the
magnet coils as a function of time
Leslie inspects the bucking coil, a fantastic piece of engineering that allows us to cancel the 7 Tesla field at the center
of the coil; this is necessary for the SQUID to work properly
A view of the SQUID setup
A closer look at the SQUID itself shows it is quite a small device
The bucking coil is successfully extricated from the Phase I reservoir
At CENPA, pontoons must be moved to make room for the magnet
A 5-ton crane helps us lift these heavy slabs of concrete
It's not pretty, but it is certainly functional
A close look at the rebar that will be the the structural support for the concrete base that the magnet sits on
Another view showing the rebar covering the hole
A Japanese film crew arrives with the intention of featuring ADMX in a PBS-style TV program; their lights show off the
magnet in a way none of us has seen before
The film crew is quite skilled at making our magnet look rather dramatic
Projected sensitivity for the next phase of ADMX
