A gold mine that lies more than a kilometer underground in Victoria, Australia.
Scientists believe that dark matter, invisiblesubstance makes up 85% of the mass of the universe. To study it, physicists have created dark matter detectors. One of these detectors is the SABER (Sodium iodide with Active Background Rejection) dark matter detector, which is located in a recently opened underground laboratory.
The detector consists of a vessel measuring 2.6 × 3.1 m andmade of pure steel. Inside is 12 tons of liquid scintillator, a material that converts high-energy radiation into visible light. The scintillator is based on an organic solvent, linear alkylbenzene, and mixed with fluorescent chemicals.
Inside the liquid scintillator areultrapure crystals of sodium iodide, which play an important role in detecting dark matter interactions. The photomultipliers there were combined with sodium iodide crystals, as well as scintillation fluid.
The detector is located on the site of a gold mine,due to its depth, its work is not disrupted by cosmic radiation. The room is 33 m long, 10 m wide and 12.3 m high. During the construction of the laboratory, about 4,700 m³ of rock was removed. The detector itself is protected by approximately 100 tons of steel and polymer shielding.
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