Secondary scintillation yield of xenon with sub-percent levels of CO2 additive for rare-event detection

Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Physics Letters B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2017.09.017· OSTI ID:1437733

Henriques, C. A. O.; Freitas, E. D. C.; Azevedo, C. D. R.; González-Díaz, D.; Mano, R. D. P.; Jorge, M. R.; Fernandes, L. M. P.; Monteiro, C. M. B. ; Gómez-Cadenas, J. J.; Álvarez, V.; Benlloch-Rodríguez, J. M.; Borges, F. I. G. M.; Botas, A.; Cárcel, S.; Carríon, J. V.; Cebrían, S.; Conde, C. A. N.; Díaz, J.; Diesburg, M.; Esteve, R. ; Felkai, R.; Ferrario, P.; Ferreira, A. L.; Goldschmidt, A.; Gutiérrez, R. M.; Hauptman, J.; Hernandez, A. I.; Hernando Morata, J. A.; Herrero, V.; Jones, B. J. P.; Labarga, L.; Laing, A.; Lebrun, P.; Liubarsky, I.; López-March, N.; Losada, M.; Martín-Albo, J.; Martínez-Lema, G.; Martínez, A.; McDonald, A. D.; Monrabal, F.; Mora, F. J.; Moutinho, L. M.; Muñoz Vidal, J.; Musti, M.; Nebot-Guinot, M.; Novella, P.; Nygren, D. R.; Palmeiro, B.; Para, A.; Pérez, J.; Querol, M.; Renner, J.; Ripoll, L.; Rodríguez, J.; Rogers, L.; Santos, F. P.; dos Santos, J. M. F.; Simón, A.; Sofka, C.; Sorel, M.; Stiegler, T.; Toledo, J. F.; Torrent, J.; Tsamalaidze, Z.; Veloso, J. F. C. A.; Webb, R.; White, J. T.; Yahlali, N.

Xe–CO₂ mixtures are important alternatives to pure xenon in Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification with applications in the important field of rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The addition of CO₂ to pure xenon at the level of 0.05–0.1% can reduce significantly the scale of electron diffusion from 10 mm / √m to 2.5mm / √m, with high impact on the discrimination efficiency of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionization trails. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe–CO₂ mixtures, with sub-percent CO₂ concentrations. We demonstrate that the EL production is still high in these mixtures, 70% and 35% relative to that produced in pure xenon, for CO₂ concentrations around 0.05% and 0.1%, respectively. In conclusion, the contribution of the statistical fluctuations in EL production to the energy resolution increases with increasing CO₂ concentration, being smaller than the contribution of the Fano factor for concentrations below 0.1% CO₂.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Contributing Organization: NEXT Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359; FG02-13ER42020; AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1437733
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1399104; OSTI ID: 1416932
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-17-225-CD-ND; arXiv:1704.01623; S0370269317307153; PII: S0370269317307153
• Journal Information: Physics Letters B, Journal Name: Physics Letters B Vol. 773 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 0370-2693
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: Netherlands
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Double beta decay
Neutrino
Rare event detection
Electroluminescence
Secondary scintillation
Xenon