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Electron drift and longitudinal diffusion in high pressure xenon-helium gas mixtures

Journal Article · · Journal of Instrumentation

We report new measurements of the drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion coefficients of electrons in pure xenon gas and in xenon-helium gas mixtures at 1-9 bar and electric field strengths of 50-300 V/cm. In pure xenon we find excellent agreement with world data at all E/P, for both drift velocity and diffusion coefficients. However, a larger value of the longitudinal diffusion coefficient than theoretical predictions is found at low E/P in pure xenon, below the range of reduced fields usually probed by TPC experiments. A similar effect is observed in xenon-helium gas mixtures at somewhat larger E/P. Drift velocities in xenon-helium mixtures are found to be theoretically well predicted. Although longitudinal diffusion in xenon-helium mixtures is found to be larger than anticipated, extrapolation based on the measured longitudinal diffusion coefficients suggest that the use of helium additives to reduce transverse diffusion in xenon gas remains a promising prospect.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
European Union, Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP) (SC-26); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
Contributing Organization:
The NEXT Collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; SC0019054; SC0019223
OSTI ID:
1571813
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1591764
OSTI ID: 22895949
OSTI ID: 1908624
OSTI ID: 1908640
Report Number(s):
arXiv:1902.05544; FERMILAB-PUB--19-518-ND-SCD; oai:inspirehep.net:1720254
Journal Information:
Journal of Instrumentation, Journal Name: Journal of Instrumentation Journal Issue: 08 Vol. 14; ISSN 1748-0221
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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