Using ultra-clean conditions of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR to measure unobserved ^180mTa decay

The decay of the nuclear isomer ^180mTa has yet to be observed as it has an expected half-life of over 10¹⁷ years. The conditions necessary to detect such a rare event exist only in ultra-clean, radio-silent detectors, such as the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. The uniqueness of this isomer arises from the nature of its stability: the ^180mTa state is more stable than its ground state as the large spin difference between the two states suppresses a direct deexcitation. Therefore, its decay is spin-suppressed. By recording the decay of ^180mTa, more accurate nuclear models can be created. At the same time, the system can be used to search for dark matter candidates that couple to the nucleus; such a coupling would cause a forced deexcitation. If this deexcitation were not to be observed, current dark matter models could be further constrained. We present an overview of the experimental setup, the installation process, and updates from the recent data taking.