Neutrinos and Dark Matter

Commissioning of the Data Acquisition System and First Liquid Argon Signal

In August 2016, the DEAP-3600 experiment was finally completed with the filling of the acrylic vessel with 3.6 tonnes of liquid argon. This milestone marked the beginning of the physics operation for this experiment. The DAQ and the Science & Technology groups at TRIUMF worked extensively to ensure that the data acquisition system was ready for the data intake upon filling. One of the biggest challenges for the scientists at TRIUMF who drove this part of the project was to ensure that the experiment could keep up with the high rate of the intrinsic argon beta-emitter 39Ar, of the order of ~3.6 kHz, while never missing any possible dark matter-argon interaction. The commissioning period was brief and smooth, and the data acquisition system operated to specification due primarily to the efforts of the TRIUMF team.