The precise measurement of cosmic-ray antinuclei serves as an important means for identifying the nature of dark matter and other new astrophysical phenomena, and could be used with other cosmic-ray species to understand cosmic-ray production and propagation in the Galaxy. For instance, low-energy antideuterons would provide a "smoking gun" signature of dark matter annihilation or decay, essentially free of astrophysical background. Studies in recent years have emphasized that models for cosmic-ray antideuterons must be considered together with the abundant cosmic antiprotons and any potential observation of antihelium. Therefore, a second dedicated Antideuteron Workshop was organized at UCLA in March 2019, bringing together a community of theorists and experimentalists to review the status of current observations of cosmic-ray antinuclei, the theoretical work towards understanding these signatures, and the potential of upcoming measurements to illuminate ongoing controversies. This review aims to synthesize this recent work and present implications for the upcoming decade of antinuclei observations and searches. This includes discussion of a possible dark matter signature in the AMS-02 antiproton spectrum, the most recent limits from BESS Polar-II on the cosmic antideuteron flux, and reports of candidate antihelium events by AMS-02; recent collider and cosmic-ray measurements relevant for antinuclei production models; the state of cosmic-ray transport models in light of AMS-02 and Voyager data; and the prospects for upcoming experiments, such as GAPS. This provides a roadmap for progress on cosmic antinuclei signatures of dark matter in the coming years.

Large-area lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors, operable 150 • C above liquid nitrogen temperature, have been developed for the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) balloon mission and will form the first such system to operate in space. These 10 cm-diameter, 2.5 mm-thick multi-strip detectors have been verified in the lab to provide < 4 keV FWHM energy resolution for X-rays as well as tracking capability for charged particles, while operating in conditions (∼-40C and ∼1 Pa) achievable on a long-duration balloon mission with a large detector payload. These characteristics enable the GAPS silicon tracker system to identify cosmic antinuclei via a novel technique based on exotic atom formation, de-excitation, and annihilation. Production and large-scale calibration of ∼1000 detectors has begun for the first GAPS flight, scheduled for late 2021. The detectors developed for GAPS may also have other applications, for example in heavy nuclei identification. Manuscript

This study presents a fabrication process for lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors that, compared to previous methods, allows for mass production at a higher yield, while providing a large sensitive area and low leakage currents at relatively high temperatures. This design, developed for the unique requirements of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment, has an overall diameter of 10 cm, with ∼9 cm of active area segmented into 8 readout strips, and an overall thickness of 2.5 mm, with 2.2 mm ( 90%) sensitive thickness. An energy resolution 4 keV full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) for 20−100 keV X-rays is required at the operating temperature ∼ − 40 • C, which is far above the liquid nitrogen temperatures conventionally used to achieve fine energy resolution. High-yield production is also required for GAPS, which consists of 1000 detectors. Our specially-developed Si crystal and custom methods of Li evaporation, diffusion and drifting allow for a thick, large-area and uniform sensitive layer. We find that retaining a thin undrifted layer on the p-side of the detector drastically reduces the leakage current, which is a dominant component of the energy resolution at these temperatures. A guard-ring structure and optimal etching of the detec- tor surface are also confirmed to suppress the leakage current. We report on the mass production of these detectors that is ongoing now, and demonstrate it is capable of delivering a high yield of ∼90%.We present here a high-yield mass production process for lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors that meet the unique requirements of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment. GAPS is a balloon-borne experiment that aims to survey low-energy (<0.25 GeV/n) cosmic-ray antinuclei for the first time, by adopting a novel detection concept based on the physics of exotic atoms [1][2][3][4]. Low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei, especially antideuterons, are predicted to be distinctive probes for the dark matter annihilation or decay occurring in the Galactic halo [1,[5][6][7][8][9]. Precise measurement of the low-energy antiproton spectra will also provide crucial information on the source and propagation mechanisms of cosmic rays [10][11][12][13]. GAPS sensitivities to antideuterons and antiprotons are discussed in [14] and [13], and capabilities for antihelium detection are being evaluated. The first flight of GAPS via a NASA Antarctic long duration balloon is planned for late 2021.GAPS is comprised of a 1.6 m W × 1.6 m D × 1.0 m H tracker made of Si(Li) detectors surrounded by a time-of-flight (TOF) system made of plastic scintillator paddles. A low-energy antinucleus triggered by the TOF is slowed and captured by the Si(Li) detector array, forming an excited exotic atom with a silicon nucleus. It immediately decays, radiating de-excitation X-rays of characteristic energies. The antinucleus then annihilates with the silicon nucleus, producing pions and protons with a multiplicity that scales with the incident antinucleus mass. The surrounding Si(Li)...

A Si(Li) detector fabrication procedure has been developed with the aim of satisfying the unique requirements of the GAPS (General Antiparticle Spectrometer) experiment. Si(Li) detectors are particularly well-suited to the GAPS detection scheme, in which several planes of detectors act as the target to slow and capture an incoming antiparticle into an exotic atom, as well as the spectrometer and tracker to measure the resulting decay X-rays and annihilation products. These detectors must provide the absorption depth, energy resolution, tracking efficiency, and active area necessary for this technique, all within the significant temperature, power, and cost constraints of an Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. We report here on the fabrication and performance of prototype 2 -diameter, 1-1.25 mm-thick, single-strip Si(Li) detectors that provide the necessary X-ray energy resolution of ∼ 4 keV for a cost per unit area that is far below that of previously-acquired commercial detectors. This fabrication procedure is currently being optimized for the 4 -diameter, 2.5 mm-thick, multi-strip geometry that will be used for the GAPS flight detectors.

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