A Review of Basic Energy Reconstruction Techniques in Liquid Xenon and Argon Detectors for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics Using NEST

Szydagis, M.; Block, G.A.; Farquhar, C.; Flesher, Alex; Kozlova, E.; Lévy, C.; Mangus, E.A.; Mooney, M.; Mueller, J.; Rischbieter, G. R. C.; Schwartz, Anna K.

doi:10.3390/instruments5010013

Cited by 41 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 211 publications

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“…The two-dimensional 2.82 keV distribution in S1-S2-space, shown in Fig. 4, right, features a slight asymmetry (skewness) that was also observed elsewhere [54,55]. This is due to DAQ and processing efficiencies, the low light level or charge loss and can be modelled with skew-Gaussians [56].…”

Section: Fitting Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 71%

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A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

2021

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Detectors using liquid xenon as target are widely deployed in rare event searches. Conclusions on the interacting particle rely on a precise reconstruction of the deposited energy which requires calibrations of the energy scale of the detector by means of radioactive sources. However, a microscopic calibration, i.e. the translation from the number of excitation quanta into deposited energy, also necessitates good knowledge of the energy required to produce single scintillation photons or ionisation electrons in liquid xenon. The sum of these excitation quanta is directly proportional to the deposited energy in the target. The proportionality constant is the mean excitation energy and is commonly known as W-value. Here we present a measurement of the W-value with electronic recoil interactions in a small dual-phase xenon time projection chamber with a hybrid (photomultiplier tube and silicon photomultipliers) photosensor configuration. Our result is based on calibrations at $$\mathcal {O}(1{-}10\,{\hbox {keV}})$$ O ( 1 - 10 keV ) with internal $${^{37}\hbox {Ar}}$$ 37 Ar and $${^{83\text {m}}\hbox {Kr}}$$ 83 m Kr sources and single electron events. We obtain a value of $$W={11.5}{} \, ^{+0.2}_{-0.3} \, \mathrm {(syst.)} \, \hbox {eV}$$ W = 11.5 - 0.3 + 0.2 ( syst . ) eV , with negligible statistical uncertainty, which is lower than previously measured at these energies. If further confirmed, our result will be relevant for modelling the absolute response of liquid xenon detectors to particle interactions.

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Section: Fitting Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…In Ref. [55] the larger S1 bias is explained by the fact that only upward S1 fluctuations above the S1 threshold are measured at such low light levels.…”

Section: Fitting Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

2021

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“…[124,125,126,127], andinvestigated in direct calibration measurements in both argon [128,129,130,131] and xenon [132,133,134]. A selection of these data have been used by the NEST collaboration to make a global fit for q ef f (E R ) [118,135]. In this work, we follow NEST and others and adopt a data-motivated model with the form…”

Section: Properties Of Liquid Noble Element Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These parameters can depend on the strength of an applied electric field, which is relevant for dual-phase detectors. For xenon, the NEST collaboration quotes A q = 0.151 ± 0.027 and B q = 0.1 ± 0.05 at zero applied electric field [135] while the recent LUX analysis finds A q = 0.173 and B q = 0.05 over a range of applied fields between about 30-600 V/cm [136]. In the xenon analysis to follow we fix A q = 0.16 and B q = 0.08, assuming an E-field strength between 50-200 V/cm.…”

Section: Properties Of Liquid Noble Element Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutrino Backgrounds in Future Liquid Noble Element Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments

Gaspert,

Giampa,

Morrissey

2021

Preprint

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Experiments that use liquid noble gasses as target materials, such as argon and xenon, play a significant role in direct detection searches for WIMP(-like) dark matter. As these experiments grow in size, they will soon encounter a new background to their dark matter discovery potential from neutrino scattering off nuclei and electrons in their targets. Therefore, a better understanding of this new source of background is crucial for future large-scale experiments such as ARGO and DARWIN. In this work, we study the impact of atmospheric neutrino flux uncertainties, electron recoil rejection efficiency, recoil energy sensitivity, and other related factors on the dark matter discovery reach. We also show that a significant improvement in sensitivity can potentially be obtained, at large exposures, by combining data from independent argon and xenon experiments.

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“…We follow an analogous procedure to the semiconductor case for converting nuclear recoil energy into quantized charges. For liquid xenon and argon detectors, the NEST collaboration [46][47][48] has provided excellent simulated models for n e (E R ) down to energies ∼ 200 eV for nuclear recoils which we use to predict the charge yield from nuclear interactions. Below this 200 eV limit, we again extrapolate as a power-law to a spectrum of cut-off energies for nuclear recoils and plot the results in Fig.…”

Section: Gaas High Fiducial Lowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Beyond the Standard Model Interactions of Solar Neutrinos in Low-Threshold Dark Matter Detectors

Schwemberger,

2022

Preprint

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As low-threshold dark matter detectors advance in development, they will become sensitive to recoils from solar neutrinos which opens up the possibility to explore neutrino properties. We predict the enhancement of the event rate of solar neutrino scattering from Beyond the Standard Model interactions in low-threshold DM detectors, with a focus on silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, xenon, and argon-based detectors. We consider a set of general neutrino interactions, which fall into five categories: the neutrino magnetic moment as well as interactions mediated by four types of mediators (scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, and axial vector), and consider coupling these mediators to either quarks or electrons. Using these predictions, we place constraints on the mass and couplings of each mediator and the neutrino magnetic moment from current lowthreshold detectors like SENSEI, Edelweiss, and SuperCDMS, as well as projections relevant for future experiments such as DAMIC-M, Oscura, Darwin, and ARGO. We find that such low-threshold detectors can improve current constraints by up to two orders of magnitude for vector mediators and one order of magnitude for scalar mediators.

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A Review of Basic Energy Reconstruction Techniques in Liquid Xenon and Argon Detectors for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics Using NEST

Cited by 41 publications

References 211 publications

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

Neutrino Backgrounds in Future Liquid Noble Element Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments

Detecting Beyond the Standard Model Interactions of Solar Neutrinos in Low-Threshold Dark Matter Detectors

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