Yemilab, a new underground laboratory in Korea

Abstract

In September 2022, Yemilab, a new underground laboratory, was finally completed in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, South Korea. Situated at a depth of 1000 m, it boasts an exclusive experimental area of 3000 m2. Currently, preparations are in progress for the AMoRE-II experiment, which aims to investigate neutrinoless double beta decay, as well as for the COSINE-100 upgrade (COSINE-100U), a direct dark matter detection experiment. Both experiments are scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2024 at Yemilab. Furthermore, the facility encompasses a cylindrical pit, approximately 6300 m3 in volume, designed to serve as a multipurpose laboratory. This laboratory will facilitate next-generation experiments focusing on neutrinos, dark matter, and related areas of research. This article presents a detailed overview of Yemilab’s construction, infrastructure, and its pivotal physics programs. © The Author(s) 2024.