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The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a world-class neutrino observatory and nucleon decay detector designed to answer fundamental questions about the nature of elementary particles and their role in the universe.

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A 10 kilo-tonne dual-phase liquid argon TPC is one of the detector options considered for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). The detector technology relies on amplification of the ionisation charge in ultra-pure argon vapour and offers several advantages compared to the traditional single-phase liquid argon TPCs. A 4.2 tonne dual-phase liquid argon TPC prototype, the largest of its kind, with an active volume of 3 × 1 × 1 m 3 has been constructed and operated at CERN. In this paper we describe in detail the experimental setup and detector components as well as report on the operation experience. We also present the first results on the achieved charge amplification, prompt scintillation and electroluminescence detection, and purity of the liquid argon from analyses of a collected sample of cosmic ray muons.

The Large Electron Multipliers (LEMs) are key components of double phase liquid argon TPCs. The drifting charges after being extracted from the liquid are amplified in the LEM positioned half a centimeter above the liquid in pure argon vapor at 87 K. The LEM is characterised by the size of its dielectric rim around the holes, the thickness of the LEM insulator, the diameter of the holes as well as their geometrical layout. The impact of those design parameters on the amplification were checked by testing seven different LEMs with an active area of 10×10 cm 2 in a double phase liquid argon TPC of 21 cm drift. We studied their response in terms of maximal reachable gain and impact on the collected charge uniformity as well as the long-term stability of the gain. We show that we could reach maximal gains of around 150 which corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of about 800 for a minimal ionising particle (MIP) signal on 3 mm readout strips. We could also conclude that the dielectric surfaces in the vicinity of the LEM holes charge up with different time constants that depend on their design parameters. Our results demonstrate that the LAr LEM TPC is a robust concept that is well-understood and well-suited for operation in ultra-pure cryogenic environments and that can match the goals of future large-scale liquid argon detectors.

We report on the successful operation of a double phase Liquid Argon Large Electron Multiplier Time Projection Chamber (LAr LEM-TPC) equipped with two dimensional projective anodes with dimensions 10×10 cm 2 , and with a maximum drift length of 21 cm. The anodes were manufactured for the first time from a single multilayer printed circuit board (PCB). Various layouts of the readout views have been tested and optimised. In addition, the ionisation charge was efficiently extracted from the liquid to the gas phase with a single grid instead of two previously. We studied the response and the gain of the detector to cosmic muon tracks. To study long-term stability over several weeks, we continuously operated the chamber at fixed electric field settings. We reproducibly observe that after an initial decrease with a characteristic time of τ ≈ 1.6 days, the observed gain is stable. In 46 days of operation, a total of 14.6 million triggers have been collected at a stable effective gain of G ∞ ∼ 15 corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) 60 for minimum ionising tracks. During the full period, eight discharges across the LEM were observed. A maximum effective gain of 90 was also observed, corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) 400 for minimum ionising tracks, or S/N ≈ 10 for an energy deposition of 15 keV on a single readout channel.

Abstract:The next generation neutrino observatory proposed by the LBNO collaboration will address fundamental questions in particle and astroparticle physics. The experiment consists of a far detector, in its first stage a 20 kt LAr double phase TPC and a magnetised iron calorimeter, situated at 2300 km from CERN and a near detector based on a highpressure argon gas TPC. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the L/E behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from δ CP and matter.In this paper we have reevaluated the physics potential of this setup for determining the mass hierarchy (MH) and discovering CP-violation (CPV), using a conventional neutrino beam from the CERN SPS with a power of 750 kW. We use conservative assumptions on the knowledge of oscillation parameter priors and systematic uncertainties. The impact of each systematic error and the precision of oscillation prior is shown. We demonstrate that the first stage of LBNO can determine unambiguously the MH to > 5σ C.L. over the whole phase space. We show that the statistical treatment of the experiment is of very high importance, resulting in the conclusion that LBNO has ∼ 100% probability to determine the MH in at most 4-5 years of running. Since the knowledge of MH is indispensable to extract δ CP from the data, the first LBNO phase can convincingly give evidence for CPV on the 3σ C.L. using today's knowledge on oscillation parameters and realistic assumptions on the systematic uncertainties.