  The XENON100 dark matter experiment uses liquid xenon (LXe) in a time
projection chamber (TPC) to search for Xe nuclear recoils resulting from the
scattering of dark matter Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). In this
paper we present a detailed description of the detector design and present
performance results, as established during the commissioning phase and during
the first science runs.
  The active target of XENON100 contains 62 kg of LXe, surrounded by an LXe
veto of 99 kg, both instrumented with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) operating
inside the liquid or in Xe gas. The LXe target and veto are contained in a
low-radioactivity stainless steel vessel, embedded in a passive radiation
shield. The experiment is installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del
Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy and has recently published results from a 100
live-days dark matter search. The ultimate design goal of XENON100 is to
achieve a spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section sensitivity of
\sigma = 2x10^-45 cm^2 for a 100 GeV/c^2 WIMP.
