Direct dark matter search with the XENON100 experiment

During the last years, liquid noble gases have proven a great potential as detector medium for dark matter searches. Among them, xenon has the advantage of combining a high WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle) sensitivity with an excellent self-shielding capability for background reduction. A common technique, which has been demonstrated e.g. by the XENON10 experiment, is to employ a two-phase TPC (Time Projection Chamber), where the produced light and charge is detected by photomultiplier tubes. XENON100 is a 65 kg active volume detector placed at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. Currently (autumn 2009), the detector is being commissioned. Due to its low-radioactivity materials (designed for 10 mDRU) and its large mass, it would be able to reach a sensitivity for the WIMP-nucleon cross section of 2.10-45 cm2 at 100 GeV WIMP mass. In this talk, the status of the experiment is reviewed.