Cresst-II: dark matter search with scintillating absorbers

In the CRESST-II experiment, scintillating CaWO4 crystals are used as absorbers for direct weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) detection. Nuclear recoils can be discriminated against electron recoils by measuring phonons and scintillation light simultaneously. The absorber crystal and the silicon light detector are read out by tungsten superconducting phase transition thermometers. Results on the sensitivity of the phonon and the light channel, radiopurity, the scintillation properties of CaWO4, and on the WIMP sensitivity are presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved