We report measurements of radon progeny in liquid argon within the MicroBooNE time projection chamber (LArTPC). The presence of specific radon daughters in MicroBooNE’s 85 metric tons of active liquid argon bulk is probed with newly developed charge-based low-energy reconstruction tools and analysis techniques to detect correlated radioactive decays. Special datasets taken during periods of active radon doping enable new demonstrations of the calorimetric capabilities of single-phase neutrino LArTPCs for and particles with electron-equivalent energies ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 MeV. By applying detection algorithms to data recorded over a 46-day period, no statistically significant presence of radioactive is detected, and a limit on the activity is placed at at the 95% confidence level. This bulk radiopurity limit—the first ever reported for a liquid argon detector incorporating liquid-phase purification—is then further discussed in relation to the targeted upper limit of on bulk activity for the DUNE neutrino detector.
Abratenko, P., et al. "Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector." Physical Review. D., vol. 109, no. 5, Mar. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.052007
Abratenko, P., Alterkait, O., Andrade Aldana, D., Arellano, L., Asaadi, J., Ashkenazi, A., Balasubramanian, S., Baller, B., Barr, G., Barrow, D., Barrow, J., Basque, V., Benevides Rodrigues, O., Berkman, S., Bhanderi, A., Bhat, A., Bhattacharya, M., Bishai, M., ... Zhang, C. (2024). Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector. Physical Review. D., 109(5). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.052007
Abratenko, P., Alterkait, O., Andrade Aldana, D., et al., "Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector," Physical Review. D. 109, no. 5 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.052007
@article{osti_2326092,
author = {Abratenko, P. and Alterkait, O. and Andrade Aldana, D. and Arellano, L. and Asaadi, J. and Ashkenazi, A. and Balasubramanian, S. and Baller, B. and Barr, G. and Barrow, D. and others},
title = {Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector},
annote = { We report measurements of radon progeny in liquid argon within the MicroBooNE time projection chamber (LArTPC). The presence of specific radon daughters in MicroBooNE’s 85 metric tons of active liquid argon bulk is probed with newly developed charge-based low-energy reconstruction tools and analysis techniques to detect correlated Bi 214 − Po 214 radioactive decays. Special datasets taken during periods of active radon doping enable new demonstrations of the calorimetric capabilities of single-phase neutrino LArTPCs for β and α particles with electron-equivalent energies ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 MeV. By applying Bi 214 − Po 214 detection algorithms to data recorded over a 46-day period, no statistically significant presence of radioactive Bi 214 is detected, and a limit on the activity is placed at 0.35 mBq / kg at the 95% confidence level. This bulk Bi 214 radiopurity limit—the first ever reported for a liquid argon detector incorporating liquid-phase purification—is then further discussed in relation to the targeted upper limit of 1 mBq / kg on bulk Rn 222 activity for the DUNE neutrino detector. Published by the American Physical Society 2024 },
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.109.052007},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2326092},
journal = {Physical Review. D.},
issn = {ISSN 2470-0010},
number = {5},
volume = {109},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Physical Society},
year = {2024},
month = {03}}
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