Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Simulation results for a low energy nuclear recoil yields measurement in liquid xenon using the MiX detector

Journal Article · · Journal of Instrumentation
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); SLAC
  2. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  4. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Measuring the scintillation and ionization yields of liquid xenon in response to ultra-low energy nuclear recoil events is necessary to increase the sensitivity of liquid xenon experiments to light dark matter. Neutron capture on xenon can be used to produce nuclear recoil events with energies below 0.3 keVNR via the asymmetric emission of γ rays during nuclear de-excitation. The feasibility of an ultra-low energy nuclear recoil measurement using neutron capture was investigated for the Michigan Xenon (MiX) detector, a small dual-phase xenon time projection chamber that is optimized for a high scintillation gain. Simulations of the MiX detector, a partial neutron moderator, and a pulsed neutron generator indicate that a population of neutron capture events can be isolated from neutron scattering events. Additionally, the rate of neutron captures in the MiX detector was optimized by varying the thickness of the partial neutron moderator, neutron pulse width, and neutron pulse frequency.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; SC0019193
OSTI ID:
1991551
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1995079
Journal Information:
Journal of Instrumentation, Journal Name: Journal of Instrumentation Journal Issue: 02 Vol. 18; ISSN 1748-0221
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

Gamma-gamma directional correlation measurements in130,132Xe following thermal neutron capture by natural xenon journal September 1988
The open science grid journal July 2007
MiX: a position sensitive dual-phase liquid xenon detector journal October 2015
Investigation of background electron emission in the LUX detector journal November 2020
Feasibility study to use neutron capture for an ultralow energy nuclear-recoil calibration in liquid xenon journal August 2022
Low-Energy Physics Reach of Xenon Detectors for Nuclear-Recoil-Based Dark Matter and Neutrino Experiments journal December 2019
Ultra-Low Energy Calibration of the LUX and LZ Dark Matter Detectors text January 2020

Figures / Tables (6)

Figure 1(p. 3)figure Figure 1
Table 1(p. 3)table Table 1
Figure 2(p. 4)figure Figure 2
Figure 3(p. 5)figure Figure 3
Figure 4(p. 6)figure Figure 4
Figure 5(p. 7)figure Figure 5

Similar Records

Feasibility study to use neutron capture for an ultralow energy nuclear-recoil calibration in liquid xenon
Journal Article · Mon Aug 08 20:00:00 EDT 2022 · Physical Review. D. · OSTI ID:1995074
Liquid xenon scintillation measurements and pulse shape discrimination in the LUX dark matter detector
Journal Article · Thu May 31 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physical Review D · OSTI ID:1436669

Related Subjects

detector calibration
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
ionization and excitation processes
noble liquid detectors
time projection chambers