A high pressure xenon time projection chamber for double beta decay
This thesis describes the design, construction and performance of a high-pressure, xenon, gas time projection chamber (TPC) for the study of double beta decay in {sup 136}Xe. The TPC when operating at 5 atm can accommodate 28 moles of 60% enriched {sup 136}Xe. The TPC has operated as a detector at Caltech since 1986. It is capable of reconstructing a charged particle trajectory and can easily distinguish between different kinds of charged particles. A gas purification and xenon gas recovery system were developed. The electronics for the 338 channels of readout was developed along with a data acquisition system. Currently, the detector is being prepared at the University of Neuchatel for installation in the low background laboratory situated in the St. Gotthard tunnel, Switzerland. In one year of runtime the detector should be sensitive to a O{nu} lifetime of the order of 10{sup 24}y, which corresponds to a neutrino mass in the range of 0.3 to 3.3 eV.
- Research Organization:
- California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena, CA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5928375
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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A Time Projection Chamber for observing double beta decay in /sup 136/Xe
Research in nuclear physics at low and intermediate energies, neutrinos and x rays: Final report, May 1980--August 1987
Related Subjects
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
TIME PROJECTION CHAMBERS
CONSTRUCTION
XENON 136
DOUBLE BETA DECAY
HIGH PRESSURE
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
PERFORMANCE
BETA DECAY
BETA-MINUS DECAY
DECAY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEI
STABLE ISOTOPES
XENON ISOTOPES
651720* - Nuclear Properties & Reactions
A=90-149
Experimental
440103 - Radiation Instrumentation- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation