Simulations and background estimates for the DAMIC-M experiment
Résumé
DAMIC-M (Dark Matter in CCDs at Modane) is a near-future experiment aiming to search for
low-mass dark matter particles through their interactions with silicon atoms in the bulk of charge-
coupled devices (CCDs). This technique was pioneered by the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB.
Its successor DAMIC-M will have a 25 times larger detector mass and will employ a novel CCD
technology (skipper amplifiers) which allows to achieve a readout noise of 0.07 electrons. With
these novelties, DAMIC-M will reach unprecedented sensitivities to dark matter candidates of the
so-called hidden sector. A challenging requirement is the control of the radiogenic background
at the level of a fraction of events per keV per kg-day of target exposure. Accurate Geant4
simulations are being employed to optimise the detector design and drive the material selection
and handling. This proceedings provides a comprehensive overview of the explored detector
designs, the estimated background, and the strategies for its mitigation.