Observation of delayed electron emission in a two-phase liquid xenon detector

Akimov, D.; Belov, V.; Bolozdynya, A.; Burenkov, A.; Efremenko, Y. V.; Etenko, A.; Kaplin, V.; Karelin, A.; Хромов, А. В.; Kirsanov, M. A.; Klimanov, S. G.; Kobyakin, A. S.; Konovalov, A. M.; Kovalenko, A. G.; Kuchenkov, A.; Kumpan, A.; Melikyan, Y.; Nikolaev, R. I.; Rudik, D.; Simakov, G.; Sosnovtsev, V.; Stekhanov, V.

doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/03/c03007

“…A systematical variation of the fiducial radius did not show any significant change of the bottom, top or total SE charge yield up to radii close to the TPC boundary. The SE event population in dual-phase TPCs is well-known but its origin not yet fully understood [27][28][29][30][31]. In the given references, a time-correlation to high-energy depositions is observed as well as a dependence on the concentration of electronegative impurities in the LXe.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

Baudis

¹

,

Sánchez-Lucas

²

,

Thieme

³

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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“…A sub-set of these events was already presented in a previous DS-50 paper [7]. Single electron signals were also studied in liquid xenon detectors [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16].…”

Section: Direct Detection Of Weakly Interactingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of events with photoelectric emission in the DarkSide-50 liquid argon Time Projection Chamber

DarkSide-50¹,

_²,

Agnes³

et al. 2021

Preprint

0

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Finding unambiguous evidence of dark matter interactions in a particle detector is a main objective of physics research. The liquid argon time projection chamber technique for the detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP) allows sensitivities down to the so-called neutrino floor for high and low WIMP masses. Based on the successful operation of the DarkSide-50 detector, a new and more sensitive experiment, DarkSide-20k, was designed and is now under construction. A thorough understanding of the DarkSide-50 detector response to events classified as dark matter as well as all other interactions is essential for an optimal design of the new experiment. In this paper, we report on a particular set of events, for which scintillation-ionization signals are observed in association with signals from single or few isolated electrons. We identified and provided an interpretation for two event types in which electrons are produced via photoelectric effect on the cathode electrode and 2 in the bulk liquid. Events with photoelectric emissions are observed in association with most interactions with large energy depositions in the detector. From the measured rate of these events, we determine the photo-ionization probability, or photoelectric quantum efficiency, of tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) at wavelengths around 128 nm.

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“…The first generation of two-phase xenon detectors used for direct WIMP search and dedicated two-phase test chambers for laboratory R&D demonstrated the sensitivity of detectors of this type to single ionization electrons [31], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42]. Typical signal for a single ionization electron emitted from the liquid to the gas phase and drifting between the liquid surface and the anode is a sequence of SPE pulses with a characteristic duration of an S2 signal (~ 2 µs in our case).…”

Section: Se Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to worldwide study, part of these SE originates from photoionization of detector materials and the impurities dissolved in xenon by the VUV light from S1 or S2 [38], [39], [40], [42]. The SE signals that appear without straightforward causal link to the presence of light in the detector are usually referred to as "spontaneous" ones [31], [39], [40], [41]. Their properties and hypotheses of their origin are discussed in ( [18], page 24), [31], [39], [41], [43].…”

Section: Se Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SE signals that appear without straightforward causal link to the presence of light in the detector are usually referred to as "spontaneous" ones [31], [39], [40], [41]. Their properties and hypotheses of their origin are discussed in ( [18], page 24), [31], [39], [41], [43]. As pointed out in [43] and observed by us in this test with RED-100, there is a large excess of SE events after the energetic events, especially muons, with exponential decay of their intensity.…”

Section: Se Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First ground-level laboratory test of the two-phase xenon emission detector RED-100

Akimov

¹

,

Belov²,

Bolozdynya³

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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RED-100 is a two-phase detector for study of coherent elastic scattering of reactor electron antineutrinos off xenon atomic nuclei. The detector contains a total of 200 kg of liquid xenon in a titanium cryostat with 160 kg of xenon in active volume inside a Teflon-made light collection cage associated with electrode system. The active volume is viewed by two arrays of nineteen 3"-diameter Hamamatsu R11410-20 PMTs assembled in two planes on top and bottom. The electrode system is equipped with an electron shutter (a patented device) to reduce a "spontaneous" single-electron noise. The detector was tested in a ground-level laboratory. The obtained results demonstrate that detection of coherent elastic scattering of reactor antineutrinos off xenon nuclei at Kalinin nuclear power plant with the RED-100 detector is feasible with a threshold of 4 ionization electrons.

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Observation of delayed electron emission in a two-phase liquid xenon detector

Cited by 20 publications

References 20 publications

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

A measurement of the mean electronic excitation energy of liquid xenon

A study of events with photoelectric emission in the DarkSide-50 liquid argon Time Projection Chamber

First ground-level laboratory test of the two-phase xenon emission detector RED-100

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