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Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC)
Identification
Hosting Legal Entity
University of Zaragoza
Location
Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, PO: 50009, Aragon (Spain)
Structure
Type Of RI
Single-sited
Coordinating Country
Spain
Status
Status
Current Status:
Operational since 2010
Scientific Description
The Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) is a facility for Underground Science. It is conceived as a Consortium of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Aragon Regional Government and the University of Zaragoza.Located under the Pyrenees mountain El Tobazo, the over burden at the site provides 850 maximum meters shielding from cosmic rays and offers a low background environment for the next generation of experiments exploring the frontiers of particle and astroparticle physics. Other sciences can also profit from the unique underground location, such as geodynamics, environmental sciences, biology, etc.

RI Keywords
Dark matter, Astroparticle physics, Neutrinos, Geodynamics
Classifications
RI Category
Solid Earth Observatories, including Seismological Monitoring Stations
Underground Laboratories
High Energy Physics Facilities
In situ Earth Observatories
Astro-particle and neutrino detectors and observatories
Scientific Domain
Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Mathematics
ESFRI Domain
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Services
Low background screening

Experiments underground need to use material and components as clean as possible from radioactive traces. The screening is performed with a set of hyper-pure Ge counters. The service can be used also by other users (environment, industrial products, etc.).

Electroforming

Extremely clean copper components are produced by building atom by atom.

Support to users and General services

The LSC supports the installation of the experimental apparatuses, built by the users, provides general services (power, water, gases) and also specialised services.

Equipment
High pressure Xe TPC

Used for searching for neutrino less double beta decay.

Laser Michelson interefrometers

High resolution geodynamic continuous monitoringA two-component strain-meter to measure small scale deformation over distances of 70 m inside the Earth.

NaI hyper pure detectors

Used for dark matter searches.

Liquid Ar TPC

Used for dark matter search.

HP-Ge detectors

Hyper pure Ge detectors are used for producing gamma spectra in samples for the experiments and from the environment (air, water, etc.).

Broad band accelerometers

Part of the TOPO IBERIA network.

Scintillating bolometers

Used for rare venets searches.

GPS stations

Two GPS stations, which continuously record surface movement, which can be correlated to the strain measurements and the local seismic activity.

Collaborations
Networks
European Plate Observing System (EPOS)
Date of last update: 19/06/2018
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