Measuring muon-induced neutrons with liquid scintillation detector at Soudan mine

Zhang, C.; Mei, Dongming

doi:10.1103/physrevd.90.122003

Cited by 22 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…More recent work by the same group also included FLUKA simulations and showed a good match of simulation and data [29]. Earlier work in deep-underground settings reported a good match between simulation and data both for GEANT4 [20] and FLUKA [64]. The present data suggest a reasonable description of the (μ, n) flux by FLUKA at 140 m.w.e.…”

Section: B Comparison Of Data and Simulationsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Despite the crucial importance of knowing, and then suppressing, the neutron background, there is only a limited number of well-documented studies where both the flux and the energy spectrum of ambient neutrons were determined experimentally for underground laboratories [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Other work, for example, concentrates on thermal neutrons [22,23], shows only one [24] to three energy bins [25] or a limited energy range [26], or does not present a deconvoluted neutron energy spectrum [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He3 counters

et al. 2020

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Ambient neutrons may cause significant background for underground experiments. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate their flux and energy spectrum in order to devise a proper shielding. Here, two sets of altogether ten moderated 3 He neutron counters are used for a detailed study of the ambient neutron background in tunnel IV of the Felsenkeller facility, underground below 45 m of rock in Dresden/Germany. One of the moderators is lined with lead and thus sensitive to neutrons of energies higher than 10 MeV. For each 3 He counter moderator assembly, the energy-dependent neutron sensitivity was calculated with the FLUKA code. The count rates of the ten detectors were then fitted with the MAXED and GRAVEL packages. As a result, both the neutron energy spectrum from 10 −9 to 300 MeV and the flux integrated over the same energy range were determined experimentally. The data show that at a given depth, both the flux and the spectrum vary significantly depending on local conditions. Energy-integrated fluxes of (0.61 AE 0.05), (1.96 AE 0.15), and ð4.6 AE 0.4Þ × 10 −4 cm −2 s −1 , respectively, are measured for three sites within Felsenkeller tunnel IV which have similar muon flux but different shielding wall configurations. The integrated neutron flux data and the obtained spectra for the three sites are matched reasonably well by FLUKA Monte Carlo calculations that are based on the known muon flux and composition of the measurement room walls.

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Section: B Comparison Of Data and Simulationsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He3 counters

et al. 2020

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“…The energies of γ rays are significantly below 20 MeV. Muon-induced neutrons and (α,n) neutrons have been reported in an earlier paper [17] and the event rates are significantly smaller than the muon rate reported in this work.…”

Section: The Variation Of Muon Rate At the Soudan Underground Laboratorycontrasting

confidence: 60%

Atmospheric charged $$K/\pi $$ ratio and measurement of muon annual modulation with a liquid scintillation detector at Soudan

Zhang

Mei

2019

Eur. Phys. J. C

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We report a measurement of muon annual modulation in a 12-l liquid scintillation detector with a live-time of more than 4 years at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Muon minimum ionization in the detector is identified by its observed pulse shape and large energy deposition. The measured muon rate in the detector is 28.69 ± 2.09 muons per day with a modulation amplitude of (2.64 ± 0.07)% and a phase at Jul 22 ± 36.2 days. This annual modulation is correlated with the variation of the effective atmospheric temperature in the stratosphere. The correlation coefficient, α T , is determined to be 0.898 ± 0.025. This can be interpreted as a measurement of the atmospheric charged kaon to pion (K /π) ratio of 0.094 +0.044 −0.061 for E p > 7 TeV, consistent with the measurement from the MINOS far detector. To further constrain the value of K /π ratio, a Geant4 simulation of the primary cosmic-ray protons with energy up to 100 TeV is implemented to study the correlation of K /π ratio and the muon annual modulation for muon energy greater than 0.5 TeV. We find out that a charged K /π ratio of 0.1598, greater than the upper bound (0.138) from this work at the production point 30 km above the Earth surface in the stratosphere cannot induce muon annual modulation at the depth of Soudan.

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“…This results in relatively softer energy spectrum of these neutrons and therefore, causing saturation at relatively smaller thicknesses. in [37,38].…”

Section: Simulation For Cosmogenic Neutronsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements of gamma ray, cosmic muon and residual neutron background fluxes for rare event search experiments at an underground laboratory

Ghosh,

Dutta,

Mondal

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Ambient radiation background contributed by the penetrating cosmic ray particles and the radionuclides present in the rock materials have been measured at an underground laboratory located inside a mine at 555 m depth.The laboratory is being set up to explore rare event search processes, such as direct dark matter search, neutrinoless double beta decay, axion search, supernova neutrino detection, etc., that require specific knowledge of the nature and extent of the radiation environment in order to assess the sensitivity reach and also to plan for its reduction for the targeted experiment. The gamma ray background, which is mostly contributed by the primordial radionuclides and their decay chain products, have been measured inside the laboratory and found to be dominated by rock radioactivity for E γ 3 MeV. Shielding of these residual gamma rays for the experiment was also evaluated. The cosmic muon flux, measured inside the laboratory using large area plastic scintillator telescope, was found to be: (2.051 ± 0.142 ± 0.009) × 10 −7 cm −2 .sec −1 , which agrees reasonably well with simulation results. The neutron background flux has been measured for the radiogenic neutrons and found to be: (1.61 ± 0.03) × 10 −4 cm −2 .sec −1 for no threshold cut. Detailed GEANT4 simulation for the radiogenic neutrons and the cosmogenic neutrons have been carried out. Effects of multiple scattering of both the types of neutrons within the surrounding rock and the cavern walls were studied and the results for the radiogenic neutrons are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental results. Neutron fluxes contributed by those neutrons of cosmogenic origin have been reported as function of the energy threshold.

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Measuring muon-induced neutrons with liquid scintillation detector at Soudan mine

Cited by 22 publications

References 48 publications

Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He3 counters

Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He3 counters

Atmospheric charged $$K/\pi $$ ratio and measurement of muon annual modulation with a liquid scintillation detector at Soudan

Measurements of gamma ray, cosmic muon and residual neutron background fluxes for rare event search experiments at an underground laboratory

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