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Insertion of STC into TRT at the Department of Physics, Oxford
Credit: CERN

Dr Niamh Fearon

PDRA

Research theme

  • Particle astrophysics & cosmology

Sub department

  • Particle Physics

Research groups

  • LUX-ZEPLIN
niamh.fearon@physics.ox.ac.uk
Inspire HEP profile
  • About
  • Publications

Postdoctoral Research

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Monroe Group in the Particle Physics department at Oxford. The Monroe Research Group focusses on dark matter direct detection research within both the DarkSide Collaboration and the QUEST-DMC Collaboration. I am currently working on quality assurance and quality control testing of silicon photomultipliers electronics (SiPMs) that will be integrated into the veto detectors of DarkSide-20k. DarkSide-20k is a multi-tonne argon time projection chamber, currently under construction in Hall C at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Assergi, Italy. 

DPhil Research

Formerly I was a member of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment for my DPhil studies. The primary physics aim of LZ is discovery of dark matter particle candidates via direct detection methods, utilising a xenon target. LZ is an international collaboration that consists of over 200 students, researchers and engineers across the UK, US, Portugal and Korea that all work together to achieve this goal. The LZ experiment itself is located at the 4850' level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility, South Dakota, US. At the centre of LZ is a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC) is filled with 7 tonnes of liquid xenon, used to detect recoils with the xenon nuclei at the keV energy scale. Currently, LZ has set the most stringent limits on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross-section considering a 4.2 tonne-year exposure, reporting a exclusion limit of 2.1×10-48 cm2 at the 90% confidence level at a WIMP mass of 36 GeV/c2. LZ has also exhibited sensitivity to multiple exciting physics signals, including possible detection of solar axions and observations of neutrinoless double beta decay to name just a few. 

Research interests

Astroparticle Physics
Dark Matter
Low Background Experiments

Selected publications

A next-generation liquid xenon observatory for dark matter and neutrino physics

J.Phys.G 50 (2023) 1, 013001
J Aalbers et al.

First Dark Matter Search Results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment

Phys.Rev.Lett. 131 (2023) 4, 041002
J. Aalbers, D.S. Akerib, C.W. Akerlof, A.K. Al Musalhi, F. Alder, A. Alqahtani, S.K. Alsum, C.S. Amarasinghe, A. Ames, T.J. Anderson, N. Angelides, H.M. Araújo, J.E. Armstrong, M. Arthurs, S. Azadi, A.J. Bailey, A. Baker, J. Balajthy, S. Balashov, J. Bang, J.W. Bargemann, M.J. Barry, J. Barthel, D. Bauer, A. Baxter, K. Beattie, J. Belle, P. Beltrame, J. Bensinger, T. Benson, E.P. Bernard, A. Bhatti, A. Biekert, T.P. Biesiadzinski, H.J. Birch, B. Birrittella, G.M. Blockinger, K.E. Boast, B. Boxer, R. Bramante, C.A.J. Brew, P. Brás, J.H. Buckley, V.V. Bugaev, S. Burdin, J.K. Busenitz, M. Buuck, R. Cabrita, C. Carels, D.L. Carlsmith, B. Carlson, M.C. Carmona-Benitez, M. Cascella, C. Chan, A. Chawla, H. Chen, J.J. Cherwinka, N.I. Chott, A. Cole, J. Coleman, M.V. Converse, A. Cottle, G. Cox, W.W. Craddock, O. Creaner, D. Curran, A. Currie, J.E. Cutter, C.E. Dahl, A. David, J. Davis, T.J.R. Davison, J. Delgaudio, S. Dey, L. de Viveiros, A. Dobi, J.E.Y. Dobson, E. Druszkiewicz, A. Dushkin, T.K. Edberg, W.R. Edwards, M.M. Elnimr, W.T. Emmet, S.R. Eriksen, C.H. Faham, A. Fan, S. Fayer, N.M. Fearon, S. Fiorucci, H. Flaecher, P. Ford, V.B. Francis, E.D. Fraser, T. Fruth, R.J. Gaitskell, N.J. Gantos, D. Garcia, A. Geffre, V.M. Gehman, J. Genovesi , C. Ghag, R. Gibbons, E. Gibson, M.G.D. Gilchriese, S. Gokhale, B. Gomber, J. Green, A. Greenall, S. Greenwood, M.G.D.van der Grinten, C.B. Gwilliam, C.R. Hall, S. Hans, K. Hanzel, A. Harrison, E. Hartigan-O'Connor, S.J. Haselschwardt, S.A. Hertel, G. Heuermann, C. Hjemfelt, M.D. Hoff, E. Holtom, J.Y-K. Hor, M. Horn, D.Q. Huang, D. Hunt, C.M. Ignarra, R.G. Jacobsen, O. Jahangir, R.S. James, S.N. Jeffery, W. Ji, J. Johnson, A.C. Kaboth, A.C. Kamaha, K. Kamdin, V. Kasey, K. Kazkaz, J. Keefner, D. Khaitan, M. Khaleeq, A. Khazov, I. Khurana, Y.D. Kim, C.D. Kocher, D. Kodroff, L. Korley, E.V. Korolkova, J. Kras, H. Kraus, S. Kravitz, H.J. Krebs, L. Kreczko, B. Krikler, V.A. Kudryavtsev, S. Kyre, B. Landerud, E.A. Leason, C. Lee, J. Lee, D.S. Leonard, R. Leonard, K.T. Lesko, C. Levy, J. Li, F.-T. Liao, J. Liao, J. Lin, A. Lindote, R. Linehan, W.H. Lippincott, R. Liu, X. Liu, Y. Liu, C. Loniewski, M.I. Lopes, E. Lopez Asamar, B. López Paredes, W. Lorenzon, D. Lucero, S. Luitz, J.M. Lyle, P.A. Majewski, J. Makkinje, D.C. Malling, A. Manalaysay, L. Manenti, R.L. Mannino, N. Marangou, M.F. Marzioni, C. Maupin, M.E. McCarthy, C.T. McConnell, D.N. McKinsey, J. McLaughlin, Y. Meng, J. Migneault, E.H. Miller, E. Mizrachi, J.A. Mock, A. Monte, M.E. Monzani, J.A. Morad, J.D. Morales Mendoza, E. Morrison, B.J. Mount, M. Murdy, A.St.J. Murphy, D. Naim, A. Naylor, C. Nedlik, C. Nehrkorn, F. Neves, A. Nguyen, J.A. Nikoleyczik, A. Nilima, J. O'Dell, F.G. O'Neill, K. O'Sullivan, I. Olcina, M.A. Olevitch, K.C. Oliver-Mallory, J. Orpwood, D. Pagenkopf, S. Pal, K.J. Palladino, J. Palmer, M. Pangilinan, N. Parveen, S.J. Patton, E.K. Pease, B. Penning, C. Pereira, G. Pereira, E. Perry, T. Pershing, I.B. Peterson, A. Piepke, J. Podczerwinski, D. Porzio, S. Powell, R.M. Preece, K. Pushkin, Y. Qie, B.N. Ratcliff, J. Reichenbacher, L. Reichhart, C.A. Rhyne, A. Richards, Q. Riffard, G.R.C. Rischbieter, J.P. Rodrigues, A. Rodriguez, H.J. Rose, R. Rosero, P. Rossiter, T. Rushton, G. Rutherford, D. Rynders, J.S. Saba, D. Santone, A.B.M.R. Sazzad, R.W. Schnee, P.R. Scovell, D. Seymour, S. Shaw, T. Shutt, J.J. Silk, C. Silva, G. Sinev, K. Skarpaas, W. Skulski, R. Smith, M. Solmaz, V.N. Solovov, P. Sorensen, J. Soria, I. Stancu, M.R. Stark, A. Stevens, T.M. Stiegler, K. Stifter, R. Studley, B. Suerfu, T.J. Sumner, P. Sutcliffe, N. Swanson, M. Szydagis, M. Tan, D.J. Taylor, R. Taylor, W.C. Taylor, D.J. Temples, B.P. Tennyson, P.A. Terman, K.J. Thomas, D.R. Tiedt, M. Timalsina, W.H. To, A. Tomás, Z. Tong, D.R. Tovey, J. Tranter, M. Trask, M. Tripathi, D.R. Tronstad, C.E. Tull, W. Turner, L. Tvrznikova, U. Utku, J. Va'vra, A. Vacheret, A.C. Vaitkus, J.R. Verbus, E. Voirin, W.L. Waldron, A. Wang, B. Wang, J.J. Wang, W. Wang, Y. Wang, J.R. Watson, R.C. Webb, A. White, D.T. White, J.T. White, R.G. White, T.J. Whitis, M. Williams, W.J. Wisniewski, M.S. Witherell, F.L.H. Wolfs, J.D. Wolfs, S. Woodford, D. Woodward, S.D. Worm, C.J. Wright, Q. Xia, X. Xiang, Q. Xiao, J. Xu, M. Yeh, J. Yin, I. Young, P. Zarzhitsky, A. Zuckerman, E.A. Zweig

Background determination for the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment

Phys.Rev.D 108 (2023) 1, 012010
J. Aalbers, D.S. Akerib, A.K. Al Musalhi, F. Alder, S.K. Alsum, C.S. Amarasinghe, A. Ames, T.J. Anderson, N. Angelides, H.M. Araújo, J.E. Armstrong, M. Arthurs, A. Baker, J. Bang, J.W. Bargemann, A. Baxter, K. Beattie, P. Beltrame, E.P. Bernard, A. Bhatti, A. Biekert, T.P. Biesiadzinski, H.J. Birch, G.M. Blockinger, B. Boxer, C.A.J. Brew, P. Brás, S. Burdin, M. Buuck, R. Cabrita, M.C. Carmona-Benitez, C. Chan, A. Chawla, H. Chen, A.P.S. Chiang, N.I. Chott, M.V. Converse, A. Cottle, G. Cox, O. Creaner, C.E. Dahl, A. David, S. Dey, L. de Viveiros, C. Ding, J.E.Y. Dobson, E. Druszkiewicz, S.R. Eriksen, A. Fan, N.M. Fearon, S. Fiorucci, H. Flaecher, E.D. Fraser, T. Fruth, R.J. Gaitskell, J. Genovesi, C. Ghag, R. Gibbons, M.G.D. Gilchriese, S. Gokhale, J. Green, M.G.D.van der Grinten, C.B. Gwilliam, C.R. Hall, S. Han, E. Hartigan-O'Connor, S.J. Haselschwardt, S.A. Hertel, G. Heuermann, M. Horn, D.Q. Huang, D. Hunt, C.M. Ignarra, R.G. Jacobsen, O. Jahangir, R.S. James, J. Johnson, A.C. Kaboth, A.C. Kamaha, D. Khaitan, I. Khurana, R. Kirk, D. Kodroff, L. Korley, E.V. Korolkova, H. Kraus, S. Kravitz, L. Kreczko, B. Krikler, V.A. Kudryavtsev, E.A. Leason, J. Lee, D.S. Leonard, K.T. Lesko, C. Levy, J. Lin, A. Lindote, R. Linehan, W.H. Lippincott, X. Liu , M.I. Lopes, E. Lopez Asamar, B. López Paredes, W. Lorenzon, C. Lu, S. Luitz, P.A. Majewski, A. Manalaysay, R.L. Mannino, N. Marangou, M.E. McCarthy, D.N. McKinsey, J. McLaughlin, E.H. Miller, E. Mizrachi, A. Monte, M.E. Monzani, J.D. Morales Mendoza, E. Morrison, B.J. Mount, M. Murdy, A.St.J. Murphy, D. Naim, A. Naylor, C. Nedlik, H.N. Nelson, F. Neves, A. Nguyen, J.A. Nikoleyczik, I. Olcina, K.C. Oliver-Mallory, J. Orpwood, K.J. Palladino, J. Palmer, N. Parveen, S.J. Patton, B. Penning, G. Pereira, E. Perry, T. Pershing, A. Piepke, D. Porzio, S. Poudel, Y. Qie, J. Reichenbacher, C.A. Rhyne, Q. Riffard, G.R.C. Rischbieter, H.S. Riyat, R. Rosero, P. Rossiter, T. Rushton, D. Santone, A.B.M.R. Sazzad, R.W. Schnee, S. Shaw, T. Shutt, J.J. Silk, C. Silva, G. Sinev, R. Smith, M. Solmaz, V.N. Solovov, P. Sorensen, J. Soria, I. Stancu, A. Stevens, K. Stifter, B. Suerfu, T.J. Sumner, N. Swanson, M. Szydagis, R. Taylor, W.C. Taylor, D.J. Temples, P.A. Terman, D.R. Tiedt, M. Timalsina, Z. Tong, D.R. Tovey, J. Tranter, M. Trask, M. Tripathi, D.R. Tronstad, W. Turner, U. Utku, A.C. Vaitkus, A. Wang, J.J. Wang, W. Wang, Y. Wang, J.R. Watson, R.C. Webb, T.J. Whitis, M. Williams, F.L.H. Wolfs, S. Woodford, D. Woodward, C.J. Wright, Q. Xia, X. Xiang, J. Xu, M. Yeh

Search for new physics in low-energy electron recoils from the first LZ exposure

Phys.Rev.D 108 (2023) 7, 072006
J. Aalbers, D.S. Akerib, A.K. Al Musalhi, F. Alder, C.S. Amarasinghe, A. Ames, T.J. Anderson, N. Angelides, H.M. Araújo, J.E. Armstrong, M. Arthurs, A. Baker, S. Balashov, J. Bang, J.W. Bargemann, A. Baxter, K. Beattie, P. Beltrame, T. Benson, A. Bhatti, A. Biekert, T.P. Biesiadzinski, H.J. Birch, G.M. Blockinger, B. Boxer, C.A.J. Brew, P. Brás, S. Burdin, M. Buuck, M.C. Carmona-Benitez, C. Chan, A. Chawla, H. Chen, J.J. Cherwinka, N.I. Chott, M.V. Converse, A. Cottle, G. Cox, D. Curran, C.E. Dahl, A. David, J. Delgaudio, S. Dey, L. de Viveiros, C. Ding, J.E.Y. Dobson, E. Druszkiewicz, S.R. Eriksen, A. Fan, N.M. Fearon, S. Fiorucci, H. Flaecher, E.D. Fraser, T.M.A. Fruth, R.J. Gaitskell, A. Geffre, J. Genovesi, C. Ghag, R. Gibbons, S. Gokhale, J. Green, M.G.D.van der Grinten, C.R. Hall, S. Han, E. Hartigan-O'Connor, S.J. Haselschwardt, D.Q. Huang, S.A. Hertel, G. Heuermann, M. Horn, D. Hunt, C.M. Ignarra, O. Jahangir, R.S. James, J. Johnson, A.C. Kaboth, A.C. Kamaha, D. Khaitan, A. Khazov, I. Khurana, J. Kim, J. Kingston, R. Kirk, D. Kodroff, L. Korley, E.V. Korolkova, H. Kraus, S. Kravitz, L. Kreczko, B. Krikler, V.A. Kudryavtsev, E.A. Leason, J. Lee, D.S. Leonard, K.T. Lesko, C. Levy, J. Lin, A. Lindote, R. Linehan , W.H. Lippincott, X. Liu, M.I. Lopes, E. Lopez Asamar, W. Lorenzon, C. Lu, D. Lucero, S. Luitz, P.A. Majewski, A. Manalaysay, R.L. Mannino, C. Maupin, M.E. McCarthy, G. McDowell, D.N. McKinsey, J. McLaughlin, E.H. Miller, E. Mizrachi, A. Monte, M.E. Monzani, J.D. Morales Mendoza, E. Morrison, B.J. Mount, M. Murdy, A.St.J. Murphy, D. Naim, A. Naylor, C. Nedlik, H.N. Nelson, F. Neves, A. Nguyen, J.A. Nikoleyczik, I. Olcina, K.C. Oliver-Mallory, J. Orpwood, K.J. Palladino, J. Palmer, N. Parveen, S.J. Patton, B. Penning, G. Pereira, E. Perry, T. Pershing, A. Piepke, S. Poudel, Y. Qie, J. Reichenbacher, C.A. Rhyne, Q. Riffard, G.R.C. Rischbieter, H.S. Riyat, R. Rosero, T. Rushton, D. Rynders, D. Santone, A.B.M.R. Sazzad, R.W. Schnee, S. Shaw, T. Shutt, J.J. Silk, C. Silva, G. Sinev, R. Smith, V.N. Solovov, P. Sorensen, J. Soria, I. Stancu, A. Stevens, K. Stifter, B. Suerfu, T.J. Sumner, M. Szydagis, W.C. Taylor, D.J. Temples, D.R. Tiedt, M. Timalsina, Z. Tong, D.R. Tovey, J. Tranter, M. Trask, M. Tripathi, D.R. Tronstad, W. Turner, A. Vacheret, A.C. Vaitkus, A. Wang, J.J. Wang, Y. Wang, J.R. Watson, R.C. Webb, L. Weeldreyer, T.J. Whitis, M. Williams, W.J. Wisniewski, F.L.H. Wolfs, S. Woodford, D. Woodward, C.J. Wright, Q. Xia, X. Xiang, J. Xu, M. Yeh, E.A. Zweig
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