Neutrino experiments are scientific studies investigating the properties of neutrinos, which are subatomic particles that are very difficult to detect due to their weak interactions with matter. Neutrino experiments are essential for understanding the fundamental properties of matter and the universe's behaviour at the subatomic level. Here is a non-exhaustive list of neutrino experiments, neutrino detectors, and neutrino telescopes.
Abbreviation | Full name | Sensitivity [a] | Type | Induced reaction | Type of reaction [b] | Detector | Type of detector | Threshold energy | Location | Operation | Home page | |||
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ANNIE | Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment | SciBooNE Hall, Illinois, United States | future | |||||||||||
ANTARES | Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss Environmental RESearch | ATM, CR, AGN, PUL | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | Seawater | Cherenkov | Mediterranean Sea, France | 2006– | |||||||
ARIANNA | Antarctic Ross Ice-Shelf ANtenna Neutrino Array | S, CR, AGN, ? | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica | future | |||||||||
BDUNT (NT-200+) Baikal-GVD | Baikal Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope / Gigaton Volume Detector | S, ATM, LS, AGN, PUL | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | CC, NC | Water (H2O) | Cherenkov | ≈10 GeV | Lake Baikal, Russia | 1993– | | ||||
BOREXINO | BORon EXperiment | LS | ν e | ν x + e− → ν x + e− | ES | LOS shielded by water | Scintillation | 250–665 keV | Gran Sasso, Italy | May 2007– | ||||
BUST | Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope | Scintillation | Baksan River valley, Russia | 1977– | ||||||||||
CCM | Coherent CAPTAIN-Mills | AC | ν e | CC | Liquid Argon | Scintillation | 50 keV | Los Alamos Neutron Science Center | 2019- | |||||
CHANDLER | Carbon Hydrogen AntiNeutrino Detector with a Lithium Enhanced Raghavan-optical-lattice | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | WLS Plastic Scintillating Cubes and Lithium-6-loaded Zinc Sulfide Sheets | Scintillation | 1.8 MeV | North Anna, Virginia, US | June 2017- | ||||
CLEAN | Cryogenic Low-Energy Astrophysics with Neon | LS, SN, WIMP | ν e | ν x + e− → ν x + e−
| ES ES | Liquid Ne (10 t) | Scintillation | SNOLAB Ontario, Canada | future | |||||
COBRA | Cadmium zinc telluride 0-neutrino double-Beta Research Apparatus | 64 Zn + e− → 64 Ni + e+ 70 Zn → 70 Ge + e− + e− 106 Cd → 106 Pd + e+ + e+ 108 Cd + e− + e− → 108 Pd 114 Cd → 114 Sn + e− + e− 116 Cd → 116 Sn + e− + e− 120 Te + e− → 120 Sn + e+ 128 Te → 128 Xe + e− + e− 130 Te → 130 Xe + e− + e− | BB | Cadmium zinc telluride | Gran Sasso, Italy | 2007– | ||||||||
COHERENT | COHERENT | AC | ν μ, ν μ, ν e | ν + nucleus → ν + nucleus | NC | CsI[Na], NaI[Tl], HPGe, LAr | Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS) | few keV nuclear recoil energy | Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory | Nov 2016- | ||||
Daya Bay | Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | Gd-doped LAB (LOS) | Scintillation | 1.8 MeV | Daya Bay, China | 2011–2020 | ||||
Double Chooz | Double Chooz Reactor Neutrino Experiment | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | Gd-doped LOS | Scintillation | 1.8 MeV | Chooz, France | 2011–2017 | ||||
DUNE | Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment | AC, ATM, (S), SN | all | NC, CC, (ES) | Liquid argon | Scintillation & Time projection chamber | around 10 MeV | Sanford Underground Research Facility | construction start 2017 | |||||
ENUBET | Enhanced NeUtrino BEams from kaon Tagging | AC | ν e, ν μ ν e, ν μ | ν e + n → e− + p (+π, +X) ν μ + n → μ− + p (+π, +X)
| CC (NC) | future | ||||||||
ESSnuSB | The European Spallation Source neutrino Super Beam | AC | ν μ, ν μ(Background: ν e, ν e) | Water | Water Cherenkov MEMPHYS detector | 0.36 GeV | Garpenberg, Lund, Sweden | future by 2023 | [1] [2] | |||||
FASER | ForwArd Search ExpeRiment | C | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν + N → ℓ + X | CC + NC | Tungsten | Emulsion | >10 GeV | Large Hadron Collider | 2022- | ||||
EXO-200 | Enriched Xenon Observatory | 134 Xe → 134 Ba + e− + e− 136 Xe → 136 Ba + e− + e− | BB | Liquid Xenon | WIPP, New Mexico | 2009– | ||||||||
GALLEX | GALLium EXperiment | LS | ν e | ν e + 71 Ga → 71 Ge + e− | CC | GaCl3 (30 t ) | Radiochemical | 233.2 keV | Gran Sasso, Italy | 1991–1997 | ||||
GERDA | The GERmanium Detector Array | BB | ν e | 76 Ge → 76 As + e− + e− | BB | HPGe | Semiconductor | Gran Sasso, Italy | ||||||
GRAND | Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection | AGN, CR, ? | ν τ | ν τ + N → τ− + X | CC | Electromagnetic waves caused by τ− through extensive air showers in the atmosphere. | Radio | 1017 eV | China | Proposed | ||||
HALO | Helium And Lead Observatory | SN | ν e, ν x | ν e + 208 Pb → e− + 209 Bi * ν + 208 Pb → ν + 208 Pb * | CC, NC | Lead (79 t ) and 3He | High-Z | ≈10 MeV | Creighton Mine, Ontario | 2012– | ||||
HERON | Helium Roton Observation of Neutrinos | LS | ν e (mainly) | ν e + e− → ν e + e− | NC | Superfluid He | Rotational excitation | 1 MeV | future | |||||
HOMESTAKE–CHLORINE | Homestake chlorine experiment | S | ν e | 37 Cl + ν e → 37 Ar * + e− 37 Ar * → 37 Cl + e+ + ν e | CC | C2Cl4 (615 t ) | Radiochemical | 814 keV | Homestake Mine, South Dakota | 1967–1998 | ||||
HOMESTAKE–IODINE | Homestake iodine experiment | S | ν e | ν + e− → ν + e− ν e + 127 I → 127 Xe + e− | ES CC | NaI in water | Radiochemical | 789 keV | Homestake Mine, South Dakota | future | ||||
Hyper-Kamiokande | Hyper-Kamiokande | S, ATM, SN, AC | ν e, ν μ ν e, ν μ | ν e + e− → ν e + e−
| ES, CC, (NC) | water | Cherenkov | 200 MeV | Tokai and Kamioka, Japan | 2027- (under construction) | ||||
ICARUS | Imaging Cosmic And Rare Underground Signal | S, ATM, GSN | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν + e− → ν + e− | ES | Liquid Ar | Cherenkov | 5.9 MeV | Gran Sasso, Italy | 2010– | ||||
IceCube | IceCube Neutrino Detector | ATM, CR, AGN, ? | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν + N → ν + Cascade , ν + N → Charged lepton + Cascade | CC, NC | Water ice (1 km3) | Cherenkov | ≈10 GeV | South Pole, Antarctica | 2006– | ||||
India-based Neutrino Observatory | Iron Calorimeter Detector @ India-based Neutrino Observatory | ATM | ν μ | ν μ+Fe→ μ− +X | CC (dominant), NC | Magnetised iron (50 kton) | RPC active detector elements | ≈0.6 GeV | Theni, Tamil Nadu, India | 2012– (lab construction); 2018– (detector operation) | ||||
JUNO | Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | LAB (LOS) + PPO + Bis-MSB | Scintillation | Kaiping, China | 2014– (construction) | |||||
Kamiokande | Kamioka Nucleon Decay Experiment | S, ATM | ν e | ν + e− → ν + e− | ES | Water (H2O) | Cherenkov | 7.5 MeV | Kamioka, Japan | 1986–1995 | ||||
KamLAND | Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Antineutrino Detector | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | LOS | Scintillation | 1.8 MeV | Kamioka, Japan | 2002– | ||||
KM3NeT | KM3 Neutrino Telescope | S, ATM, CR, SN, AGN, PUL | ν μ, ν e, ν τ | Sea water (≈5 km3) | Cherenkov | Mediterranean Sea | 2014– | |||||||
LAGUNA | Large Apparatus studying Grand Unification and Neutrino Astrophysics | future | ||||||||||||
LENS | Low Energy Neutrino Spectroscopy | LS | ν e | ν e + 115 In → 115 Sn + ν e + 2 γ | CC | In-doped LOS | Scintillation | 120 keV | proposed | |||||
Majorana Demonstrator | The Majorana Demonstrator | BB | ν e | 76 Ge → 76 As + e− + e− | BB | HPGe | Semiconductor | 2039 keV | Homestake Mine, South Dakota | construction start 2012 | ||||
MicroBooNE | AC, SN | ν e, ν μ | ES, NC, CC | Liquid Argon | TPC | few MeV | Illinois, United States | 2014- | ||||||
MINERvA | Main Injector ExpeRiment for v-A | AC | ν μ | many | CC, NC | Solid scintillator, targets of Liquid helium, Carbon, Water, Iron, Lead | Scintillation | ≈0.5 GeV | Illinois, United States | 2009–2019 | ||||
MiniBooNE | Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment | AC | ν e, ν μ | ν e + 12 C → e− + X | CC | Mineral oil (1000 t) | Cherenkov | ≈100 keV | Illinois, United States | 2002– | ||||
MINOS | Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search | AC, ATM | ν e, ν μ | ν μ+nucleus → μ− +X | CC, NC | Solid scintillator | Scintillation | ≈0.5 GeV | Illinois and Minnesota, United States | 2005–2012 | ||||
MINOS+ | Upgraded electronics for MINOS | AC, ATM | ν e, ν μ, | ν μ+nucleus → μ− +X | CC, NC | Solid scintillator | Scintillation | ≈0.5 GeV | Illinois and Minnesota, United States | 2013– | ||||
MOON | Molybdenum Observatory Of Neutrinos | LS, LSN | ν e | ν e + 100 Mo → 100 Tc + e− | CC | 100 Mo (1 kt ) + MoF6 (gas) | Scintillation | 168 keV | Washington, United States | |||||
NEMO-3 | Neutrino Ettore Majorana Observatory | BB | ν e | 100 Mo → 100 Ru + 2 e− 100 | BB | Tracker + calorimeter | He+Ar wire chamber, plastic scintillators | 150 keV | Modane Underground Laboratory, Fréjus Road Tunnel, France | 2003–2011 | ||||
NEMO Telescope | NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory | Mediterranean Sea, Italy | 2007– | |||||||||||
NEVOD | Cherenkov water detector NEVOD | ATM, CR | ν μ | ν μ + n → μ− + p ν μ + p → μ+ + n | CC | Water (H2O) | Cherenkov | ≈2 GeV | Moscow, Russia | 1993– | ||||
NEXT | Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time Projection Chamber | BB | 136 Xe → 136 Ba + 2 e− | BB | Gaseous Xenon | Time projection chamber | ≈10 keV | Canfranc, Spain | 2016– | |||||
NOνA | NuMI Off-Axis νe Appearance | AC | ν e, ν μ | ν e+nucleus → e− +X | CC | Liquid scintillator | Scintillation | ≈0.1 GeV | Illinois and Minnesota, United States | 2011– | ||||
OPERA | Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus | AC | ν τ | ν τ+nucleus → τ− +X | CC | Lead/Emulsion | Nuclear Emulsion | ≈1.0 GeV | LNGS (Italy) and CERN | 2008– | ||||
Auger | Pierre Auger Observatory | CR | Cherenkov | Argentina | ||||||||||
RENO | Reactor Experiment for Neutrino Oscillation | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | Gd-doped LOS | Scintillation | 1.8 MeV | South Korea | 2011– | ||||
RNO-G | Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland | CR, AGN, ? | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | CC, NC | In-Ice | Radio | >10 PeV | Summit Camp, Greenland | 2021– | |||||
SAGE | Soviet–American Gallium Experiment | LS | ν e | ν e + 71 Ga → 71 Ge + e− | CC | Ga (metallic) | Radiochemical | 233.2 keV | Baksan River valley, Russia | 1989– | ||||
SciBooNE | SciBar (Scintillator Bar) Booster Neutrino Experiment | AC | ν μ | ν μ + 12 C → μ− + X | CC, NC | Plastic (CH,10 ton) | Scintillation | ≈100 keV | Illinois, United States | 2007–2008 | ||||
SNO | Sudbury Neutrino Observatory | S, ATM, GSN | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν e + 2 D → 2 p + e− ν x + 2 D → ν x + n + p ν e + e− → ν e + e− | CC NC ES | Heavy water (1 kt D2O) | Cherenkov | 3.5 MeV | Creighton Mine, Ontario | 1999–2006 | ||||
SNO+ | SNO with liquid scintillator | S,LS,R,T, SN,LSN | ν e | ν x + e− → ν x + e−
| ES, BB | linear alkylbenzene (LAB) + PPO | Scintillation | ≈≤1MeV | Creighton Mine, Ontario | 2014– | ||||
SoLid | Short baseline Oscillation Search with Lithium-6 Detector | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | plastic and anorganic scintillator | Scintillation | ≈2 MeV | Mol, Belgium | 2015- | ||||
STEREO | STErile neutrino REactor Oscillation experiment | R | ν e | ν e + p → e+ + n | CC | liquid organic scintillator loaded with Gd | Scintillation | ≈2 MeV | Grenoble, France | 2013– | ||||
Super-K | Super-Kamiokande | S, ATM, GSN | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν e + e− → ν e + e− ν e + n → e− + p ν e + p → e+ + n | ES CC CC | Water (H2O) | Cherenkov | 200 MeV | Kamioka, Japan | 1996– | ||||
SuperNEMO | SuperNEMO | BB | ν e | 100 Se → 100 Kr + 2 e− 150 Nd → 150 Sm + 2 e− | BB | Tracker + calorimeter | He+Ar wire chamber, plastic scintillators | 150 keV | Modane Underground Laboratory, Fréjus Road Tunnel, France | 2017– | ||||
TRIDENT | TRopIcal DEep-sea Neutrino Telescope | S, ATM, CR, SN, AGN, PUL | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | CC, NC | Seawater (7.5 cubic km) | Cherenkov | Western Pacific Ocean | Proposed Pilot: 2026 | ||||||
T2K | Tokai to Kamioka | AC | ν e, ν μ ν e, ν μ | ν e + n → e− + p (+π, +X) ν μ + n → μ− + p (+π, +X)
| CC (NC) | Water (H2O) | Cherenkov |
| Tokai, Japan Kamioka, Japan | 2011– | ||||
UNO | Underground Nucleon decay and neutrino Observatory | S, ATM, GSN, RSN | ν e, ν μ, ν τ | ν e + e− → ν e + e− | ES | Water (440 kt H2O) | Cherenkov | Henderson Mine, Colorado | abandoned | |||||
^[a] Accelerator neutrino (AC), Active galactic nuclei neutrino (AGN), Atmospheric neutrino (ATM), Collider neutrino (C), Cosmic ray neutrino (CR), Low-energy solar neutrino (LS), Low-energy supernova neutrino (LSN), Pulsar neutrino (PUL), Reactor neutrino (R), Solar neutrino (S), Supernova neutrino (SN), Terrestrial neutrino (T).
^[b] Double beta decay (BB), Charged current (CC), Elastic scattering (ES), Neutral current (NC).
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A neutrino is a fermion that interacts only via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small (-ino) that it was long thought to be zero. The rest mass of the neutrino is much smaller than that of the other known elementary particles. The weak force has a very short range, the gravitational interaction is extremely weak due to the very small mass of the neutrino, and neutrinos do not participate in the electromagnetic interaction or the strong interaction. Thus, neutrinos typically pass through normal matter unimpeded and undetected.
Super-Kamiokande is a neutrino observatory located under Mount Ikeno near the city of Hida, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It is located 1,000 m (3,300 ft) underground in the Mozumi Mine in Hida's Kamioka area. The observatory was designed to detect high-energy neutrinos, to search for proton decay, study solar and atmospheric neutrinos, and keep watch for supernovae in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are hypothetical particles that are one of the proposed candidates for dark matter.
Neutrino astronomy is the branch of astronomy that observes astronomical objects with neutrino detectors in special observatories. Neutrinos are created as a result of certain types of radioactive decay, nuclear reactions such as those that take place in the Sun or high energy astrophysical phenomena, in nuclear reactors, or when cosmic rays hit atoms in the atmosphere. Neutrinos rarely interact with matter, meaning that it is unlikely for them to scatter along their trajectory, unlike photons. Therefore, neutrinos offer a unique opportunity to observe processes that are inaccessible to optical telescopes, such as reactions in the Sun's core. Neutrinos can also offer a very strong pointing direction compared to charged particle cosmic rays.
A solar neutrino is a neutrino originating from nuclear fusion in the Sun's core, and is the most common type of neutrino passing through any source observed on Earth at any particular moment. Neutrinos are elementary particles with extremely small rest mass and a neutral electric charge. They only interact with matter via the weak interaction and gravity, making their detection very difficult. This has led to the now-resolved solar neutrino problem. Much is now known about solar neutrinos, but the research in this field is ongoing.
Sterile neutrinos are hypothetical particles that interact only via gravity and not via any of the other fundamental interactions of the Standard Model. The term sterile neutrino is used to distinguish them from the known, ordinary active neutrinos in the Standard Model, which carry an isospin charge of ±+1/ 2 and engage in the weak interaction. The term typically refers to neutrinos with right-handed chirality, which may be inserted into the Standard Model. Particles that possess the quantum numbers of sterile neutrinos and masses great enough such that they do not interfere with the current theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis are often called neutral heavy leptons (NHLs) or heavy neutral leptons (HNLs).
The cosmic neutrino background is the universe's background particle radiation composed of neutrinos. They are sometimes known as relic neutrinos.
The Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect is a particle physics process which modifies neutrino oscillations in matter of varying density. The MSW effect is broadly analogous to the differential retardation of sound waves in density-variable media, however it also involves the propagation dynamics of three separate quantum fields which experience distortion.
Inverse beta decay, commonly abbreviated to IBD, is a nuclear reaction involving an electron antineutrino scattering off a proton, creating a positron and a neutron. This process is commonly used in the detection of electron antineutrinos in neutrino detectors, such as the first detection of antineutrinos in the Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment, or in neutrino experiments such as KamLAND and Borexino. It is an essential process to experiments involving low-energy neutrinos such as those studying neutrino oscillation, reactor neutrinos, sterile neutrinos, and geoneutrinos.
T2K is a particle physics experiment studying the oscillations of the accelerator neutrinos. The experiment is conducted in Japan by the international cooperation of about 500 physicists and engineers with over 60 research institutions from several countries from Europe, Asia and North America and it is a recognized CERN experiment (RE13). T2K collected data within its first phase of operation from 2010 till 2021. The second phase of data taking is expected to start in 2023 and last until commencement of the successor of T2K – the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment in 2027.
Hyper-Kamiokande is a neutrino observatory and experiment under construction, conducted in Japan by the collaboration of institutes from 21 countries from six continents. As a successor of the Super-Kamiokande (SK) and T2K experiments, it is designed to search for proton decay and detect neutrinos from natural sources such as the Earth, the atmosphere, the Sun and the cosmos, as well as to study neutrino oscillations of the man-made accelerator neutrino beam. The beginning of data-taking is planned for 2027.
SNOLAB is a Canadian underground science laboratory specializing in neutrino and dark matter physics. Located 2 km below the surface in Vale's Creighton nickel mine near Sudbury, Ontario, SNOLAB is an expansion of the existing facilities constructed for the original Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) solar neutrino experiment.
SNO+ is a physics experiment designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay, with secondary measurements of proton–electron–proton (pep) solar neutrinos, geoneutrinos from radioactive decays in the Earth, and reactor neutrinos. It is under construction using the underground equipment already installed for the former Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment at SNOLAB. It could also observe supernovae neutrinos if a supernova occurs in our galaxy.
A Type II supernova or SNII results from the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive star. A star must have at least eight times, but no more than 40 to 50 times, the mass of the Sun (M☉) to undergo this type of explosion. Type II supernovae are distinguished from other types of supernovae by the presence of hydrogen in their spectra. They are usually observed in the spiral arms of galaxies and in H II regions, but not in elliptical galaxies; those are generally composed of older, low-mass stars, with few of the young, very massive stars necessary to cause a supernova.
Borexino is a deep underground particle physics experiment to study low energy (sub-MeV) solar neutrinos. The detector is the world's most radio-pure liquid scintillator calorimeter and is protected by 3,800 meters of water-equivalent depth. The scintillator is pseudocumene and PPO which is held in place by a thin nylon sphere. It is placed within a stainless steel sphere which holds the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) used as signal detectors and is shielded by a water tank to protect it against external radiation. Outward pointing PMT's look for any outward facing light flashes to tag incoming cosmic muons that manage to penetrate the overburden of the mountain above. Neutrino energy can be determined through the number of photoelectrons measured in the PMT's. While the position can be determined by extrapolating the difference in arrival times of photons at PMT's throughout the chamber.
Large Apparatus studying Grand Unification and Neutrino Astrophysics or LAGUNA was a European project aimed to develop the next-generation, very large volume underground neutrino observatory. The detector was to be much bigger and more sensitive than any previous detector, and make new discoveries in the field of particle and astroparticle physics. The project involved 21 European institutions in 10 European countries, and brought together over 100 scientists.
The diffuse supernova neutrino background(DSNB) is a theoretical population of neutrinos (and anti-neutrinos) cumulatively originating from all core-collapse supernovae events throughout the history of the universe. Though it has not yet been directly detected, the DSNB is theorized to be isotropic and consists of neutrinos with typical energies on the scale of 107 eV. Current detection efforts are limited by the influence of background noise in the search for DSNB neutrinos and are therefore limited to placing limits on the parameters of the DSNB, namely the neutrino flux. Restrictions on these parameters have gotten more strict in recent years, but many researchers are looking to make direct observations in the near future with next generation detectors. The DSNB is not to be confused with the cosmic neutrino background (CNB), which is comprised by relic neutrinos that were produced during the Big Bang and have much lower energies (10−4 to 10−6 eV).
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Supernova neutrinos are weakly interactive elementary particles produced during a core-collapse supernova explosion. A massive star collapses at the end of its life, emitting on the order of 1058 neutrinos and antineutrinos in all lepton flavors. The luminosity of different neutrino and antineutrino species are roughly the same. They carry away about 99% of the gravitational energy of the dying star as a burst lasting tens of seconds. The typical supernova neutrino energies are 10 to 20 MeV. Supernovae are considered the strongest and most frequent source of cosmic neutrinos in the MeV energy range.
Direct detection of dark matter is the science of attempting to directly measure dark matter collisions in Earth-based experiments. Modern astrophysical measurements, such as from the Cosmic Microwave Background, strongly indicate that 85% of the matter content of the universe is unaccounted for. Although the existence of dark matter is widely believed, what form it takes or its precise properties has never been determined. There are three main avenues of research to detect dark matter: attempts to make dark matter in accelerators, indirect detection of dark matter annihilation, and direct detection of dark matter in terrestrial labs. The founding principle of direct dark matter detection is that since dark matter is known to exist in the local universe, as the Earth, Solar System, and the Milky Way Galaxy carve out a path through the universe they must intercept dark matter, regardless of what form it takes.