Modeling ionization and recombination from low energy nuclear recoils in liquid argon

Foxe, Michael P.; Hagmann, Chris; Jovanovic, Igor; Bernstein, A.; Joshi, T.; Kazkaz, K.; Mozin, Vladimir V.; Pereverzev, S. V.; Sangiorgio, Samuele; Sorensen, Peter F.

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.03.005

Title: Modeling ionization and recombination from low energy nuclear recoils in liquid argon

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astroparticle Physics, 69:24-29

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.03.005· OSTI ID:1182876

Foxe, Michael P.; Hagmann, Chris; Jovanovic, Igor; Bernstein, A.; Joshi, T.; Kazkaz, K.; Mozin, Vladimir V.; Pereverzev, S. V.; Sangiorgio, Samuele; Sorensen, Peter F.

Coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering (CNNS) is an as-yet undetected, flavor-independent neutrino interaction predicted by the Standard Model. CNNS is a flavor-blind interaction, which offers potential benefits for its use in nonproliferation (nuclear reactor monitoring) and astrophysics (supernova and solar neutrinos) applications. One challenge with detecting CNNS is the low energy deposition associated with a typical CNNS nuclear recoil. In addition, nuclear recoils are predicted to result in lower ionization yields than those produced by electron recoils of the same energy. This ratio of nuclear- and electron-induced ionization, known as the nuclear quenching factor, is unknown at energies typical for CNNS interactions in liquid xenon (LXe) and liquid argon (LAr), detector media being considered for CNNS detection. While there have been recent measurements [1] of the ionization yield from nuclear recoils in LAr, there is no universal model for nuclear quenching and ionization yield. For this reason, a Monte Carlo simulation has been developed to predict the ionization yield at sub-10 keV energies. The local ionization yield of a recoiling atom in the medium is calculated first. The ejected electrons are subsequently tracked in the electric field resulting from both the local electric charges and the externally applied drift field. The dependence of the ionization yield on the drift electric field is obtained by combining the calculated ionization yield for the initial collision cascade with the electron escape probability. An updated estimate of the CNNS signal expected in a LAr detector operated near a nuclear power reactor is presented.

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

DOE Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1182876

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-100229; NN2003000

Journal Information:: Astroparticle Physics, 69:24-29, Journal Name: Astroparticle Physics, 69:24-29

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (39)

Design and performance of the XENON10 dark matter experiment Aprile, E.; Angle, J.; Arneodo, F. Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 34, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2011.01.006	journal	April 2011
First Dark Matter Results from the XENON100 Experiment Aprile, E.; Arisaka, K.; Arneodo, F. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.131302	journal	September 2010
First limits on WIMP nuclear recoil signals in ZEPLIN-II: A two-phase xenon detector for dark matter detection Alner, G. J.; Araújo, H. M.; Bewick, A. Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2007.06.002	journal	November 2007
WARP liquid argon detector for dark matter survey Brunetti, R.; Calligarich, E.; Cambiaghi, M. New Astronomy Reviews, Vol. 49, Issue 2-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newar.2005.01.017	journal	May 2005
First Results from the LUX Dark Matter Experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility Akerib, D. S.; Araújo, H. M.; Bai, X. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.091303	journal	March 2014
Two-phase emission detector for measuring coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering Hagmann, C.; Bernstein, A. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 51, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.2004.836061	journal	October 2004
Detection of reactor antineutrino coherent scattering off nuclei with a two-phase noble gas detector Akimov, D.; Bondar, A.; Burenkov, A. Journal of Instrumentation, Vol. 4, Issue 06 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/4/06/P06010	journal	June 2009
The average energies, W, required to form an ion pair in liquefied rare gases Takahashi, T.; Konno, S.; Doke, T. Journal of Physics C: Solid State Physics, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3719/7/1/029	journal	January 1974
Estimation of Fano factors in liquid argon, krypton, xenon and xenon-doped liquid argon Doke, T.; Hitachi, A.; Kubota, S. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 134, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(76)90292-5	journal	April 1976
Drift velocity of free electrons in liquid argon Walkowiak, W. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 449, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(99)01301-7	journal	July 2000
Effect of molecular solutes on the electron drift velocity in liquid Ar, Kr, and Xe Yoshino, K.; Sowada, U.; Schmidt, W. F. Physical Review A, Vol. 14, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.14.438	journal	July 1976
Stopping of energetic light ions in elemental matter Ziegler, J. F. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.369844	journal	February 1999
Nuclear recoil energy scale in liquid xenon with application to the direct detection of dark matter Sorensen, Peter; Dahl, Carl Eric Physical Review D, Vol. 83, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.83.063501	journal	March 2011
A model of nuclear recoil scintillation efficiency in noble liquids Mei, D. -M.; Yin, Z. -B.; Stonehill, L. C. Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 30, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.06.001	journal	August 2008
Semi-empirical calculation of quenching factors for ions in scintillators Tretyak, V. I. Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 33, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2009.11.002	journal	February 2010
NEST: a comprehensive model for scintillation yield in liquid xenon Szydagis, M.; Barry, N.; Kazkaz, K. Journal of Instrumentation, Vol. 6, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/6/10/P10002	journal	October 2011
Low-energy $(< 10 keV)$ electron ionization and recombination model for a liquid argon detector Foxe, M.; Hagmann, C.; Jovanovic, I. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 771 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.055	journal	January 2015
A Monte Carlo computer program for the transport of energetic ions in amorphous targets Biersack, J. P.; Haggmark, L. G. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 174, Issue 1-2, p. 257-269 https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(80)90440-1	journal	August 1980
Cross Sections and Swarm Coefficients for Nitrogen Ions and Neutrals in N ₂ and Argon Ions and Neutrals in Ar for Energies from 0.1 eV to 10 keV Phelps, A. V. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, Vol. 20, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.555889	journal	May 1991
Ionization processes in slow collisions of heavy particles II. Symmetrical systems of the rare gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr Gerber, G.; Morgenstern, R.; Niehaus, A. Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Vol. 6, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3700/6/3/017	journal	March 1973
Electron thermalization and electron–ion recombination in liquid argon Wojcik, Mariusz; Tachiya, M. Chemical Physics Letters, Vol. 379, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2003.08.006	journal	September 2003
Structure and dynamics of the He 2 * (a 3Σ u + molecular complex in condensed phases of helium Kafanov, S. G.; Parshin, A. Ya.; Todoshchenko, I. A. Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 91, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1334989	journal	November 2000
Theory of Hot Electrons in Gases, Liquids, and Solids Cohen, Morrel H.; Lekner, J. Physical Review, Vol. 158, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.158.305	journal	June 1967
Electron transport and electron–ion recombination in liquid argon: simulation based on the Cohen–Lekner theory Wojcik, Mariusz; Tachiya, M. Chemical Physics Letters, Vol. 363, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2614(02)01177-6	journal	September 2002
First Measurement of the Ionization Yield of Nuclear Recoils in Liquid Argon Joshi, T. H.; Sangiorgio, S.; Bernstein, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.171303	journal	May 2014
Neutrino electromagnetic form factors Vogel, P.; Engel, J. Physical Review D, Vol. 39, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.39.3378	journal	June 1989
Precision spectroscopy with reactor antineutrinos Huber, Patrick; Schwetz, Thomas Physical Review D, Vol. 70, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.70.053011	journal	September 2004
A dating method with39Ar Loosli, H. H. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 63, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(83)90021-3	journal	April 1983
Long-lived noble gas radionuclides Kutschera, W.; Paul, M.; Ahmad, I. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 92, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(94)96013-5	journal	June 1994
Measurement of the specific activity of 39Ar in natural argon Benetti, P.; Calaprice, F.; Calligarich, E. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 574, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2007.01.106	journal	April 2007
Decay data for Internal and External dose Assessment Stabin, Michael G.; da Luz, Lydia C. Q. P. Health Physics, Vol. 83, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-200210000-00004	journal	January 2002
First demonstration of a sub-keV electron recoil energy threshold in a liquid argon ionization chamber Sangiorgio, S.; Joshi, T. H.; Bernstein, A. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 728 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2013.06.061	journal	November 2013
High voltage in noble liquids for high energy physics Rebel, B.; Hall, C.; Bernard, E. Journal of Instrumentation, Vol. 9, Issue 08 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/9/08/T08004	journal	August 2014
Evidence of the existence of exciton states in liquid argon and exciton-enhanced ionization from xenon doping Kubota, S.; Nakamoto, A.; Takahashi, T. Physical Review B, Vol. 13, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.13.1649	journal	February 1976
Luminescence quenching in liquid argon under charged-particle impact: Relative scintillation yield at different linear energy transfers Hitachi, A.; Doke, T.; Mozumder, A. Physical Review B, Vol. 46, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.11463	journal	November 1992
Experimental study of ionization yield of liquid xenon for electron recoils in the energy range 2.8–80 keV Akimov, D. Yu.; Afanasyev, V. V.; Alexandrov, I. S. Journal of Instrumentation, Vol. 9, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/9/11/P11014	journal	November 2014
Observation of the dependence on drift field of scintillation from nuclear recoils in liquid argon Alexander, T.; Back, H. O.; Cao, H. Physical Review D, Vol. 88, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.092006	journal	November 2013
Prospects for measuring coherent neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering at a stopped-pion neutrino source Scholberg, Kate Physical Review D, Vol. 73, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.033005	journal	February 2006
Dark matter in light of the LUX results Fox, Patrick J.; Jung, Gabriel; Sorensen, Peter Physical Review D, Vol. 89, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.103526	journal	May 2014

Cited By (1)

Energy of the quasi-free electron in CO and HD: Probing intermolecular potentials within the local Wigner-Seitz model Evans, C. M.; Flor, Baxter; Krynski, Kamil The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 149, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5044521	journal	August 2018

Similar Records

Modeling ionization and recombination from low energy nuclear recoils in liquid argon

Journal Article · Fri Mar 27 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astroparticle Physics · OSTI ID:1182876

Foxe, M.; Hagmann, C.; Jovanovic, I.; +7 more

Demonstration of Key Elements of a Dual Phase Argon Detection System Suitable for Measurement of Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

Technical Report · Mon Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · OSTI ID:1182876

Adam, B; Celeste, W; Christian, H; +2 more

Dual-phase argon ionization detector for measurement of coherent elastic neutrino scattering and medium-energy nuclear recoils

Conference · Wed Sep 13 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · OSTI ID:1182876

Winant, C D; Bernstein, A; Hagmann, C; +2 more

Related Subjects

Low-Energy Ionization
Liquid Argon
Neutrino-Nucleus
Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering
CNNS
Liquid Xenon
CNNS Detection

Title: Modeling ionization and recombination from low energy nuclear recoils in liquid argon

Citation Formats

References (39)

Cited By (1)

Similar Records

Related Subjects