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Title: High Voltage Insulation and Gas Absorption of Polymers in High Pressure Argon and Xenon Gases

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1504727· OSTI ID:1504727
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Texas, Arlington, TX (United States)
  2. Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), San Sebastian (Spain); Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao (Spain). IKERBASQUE; Instituto de Física Corpuscular, Paterna (Spain); et al.

This work advances the development of the high-pressure xenon gas Time projection Chamber (TPC) concept in the search for neutrino-less double beta decay in Xenon136, a promising isotopic candidate. In particular, this work advances the use of electroluminescence (EL) as a nearly noiseless gain mechanism that preserves energy resolution in measurement of the visible energy in the decay—the two emitted electrons. Energy resolution of ~1% FWHM at the Q-value of the decay, 2458 kEV, allows complete separation of the much more copious 2-neutrino mode. The goal is to realize the EL mechanism in a very large parallel plane, nearly optically transparent mesh geometry, on the order of one meter diameter. Additional effort by collaborators at Argonne National Laboratory provide design solutions for the electrostatic boundary conditions of the active volume of the TPC. Solutions for the large mesh have been found in either electroformed grids or a more conventional woven mesh made from stainless steel wire. Posts to maintain approximate planarity are needed to minimize electrostatic deflection. The work has shown that these posts are feasible with certain plastics that can support the high electric field with out discharges.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Arlington, TX (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Contributing Organization:
NEXT Collaboration; Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
DOE Contract Number:
SC0017721; AC02-07CH11359; FG02-13ER42020; SC0011686
OSTI ID:
1504727
Report Number(s):
DOE-UTA-17721; 17SC502008
Resource Relation:
Related Information: arXiv:1804.04116v3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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