Results from the first science run of the ZEPLIN-III dark matter search experiment

Lebedenko, V.N.; Araújo, H. M.; Barnes, E. J.; Bewick, A.; Cashmore, R.J.; Chepel, V.; Currie, A.; Davidge, D.; Dawson, J.; Durkin, T.; Edwards, B.; Ghag, C.; Horn, M.; Howard, Alex; Hughes, A.J.; Jones, W. G.; Joshi, M.; Kalmus, G.; Kovalenko, A. G.; Lindote, A.; Liubarsky, I.; Lopes, I.; Lüscher, R.; Majewski, P.; Murphy, A. St. J.; Neves, F.; Cunha, J. Pinto da; Preece, R.; Quenby, J. J.; Scovell, P. R.; Silva, C.; Solovov, V.; Smith, N. J. T.; Smith, P.F.; Stekhanov, V.; Sumner, T. J.; Thorne, Claire; Walker, R. J.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.80.052010

Cited by 175 publications

(185 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…ZEPLIN-II became the first liquid/gas system to operate in the world, completing in 2007 [49]; it utilized a deep, high-reflectance PTFE chamber containing 31 kg of liquid xenon with readout from seven 13-cm diameter PMTs in the gas phase. ZEPLIN-III concluded the liquid xenon program at Boulby, with science runs in 2008 [376] and, following an upgrade phase, in 2010/11 [56]; its design featured 31 2-inch PMTs immersed in the liquid, viewing a thin disc geometry of 12 kg of liquid xenon under high electric field [50].…”

Section: Liquid Xenon Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics

2013

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We review the current status of liquid noble gas radiation detectors with energy threshold in the keV range, which are of interest for direct dark matter searches, measurement of coherent neutrino scattering and other low energy particle physics experiments. Emphasis is given to the operation principles and the most important instrumentation aspects of these detectors, principally of those operated in the double-phase mode. Recent technological advances and relevant developments in photon detection and charge readout are discussed in the context of their applicability to those experiments.

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Section: Liquid Xenon Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics

2013

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“…It has a rich and significant history in the development and support of low-background physics. Until recently, the main experimental area underground was the Palmer Laboratory which hosted the pioneering ZEPLIN dark matter programme that operated a series of three xenon detectors until 2011 [3,4,5,6]. Similarly, the leading directional dark matter programme, DRIFT, was hosted in this laboratory [7].…”

Section: Boulby Underground Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-background gamma spectroscopy at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

Scovell

Meehan²,

Araújo

et al. 2018

Astroparticle Physics

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The Boulby Underground Germanium Suite (BUGS) comprises three low-background, high-purity germanium detectors operating in the Boulby Underground Laboratory, located 1.1 km underground in the north-east of England, UK. BUGS utilises three types of detector to facilitate a high-sensitivity, high-throughput radio-assay programme to support the development of rare-event search experiments. A Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector delivers sensitivity to low-energy gamma-rays such as those emitted by 210 Pb and 234 Th. A Small Anode Germanium (SAGe) well-type detector is employed for efficient screening of small samples. Finally, a standard p-type coaxial detector provides fast screening of standard samples. This paper presents the steps used to characterise the performance of these detectors for a variety of sample geometries, including the corrections applied to account for cascade summing effects. For low-density materials, BUGS is able to radio-assay to specific activities down to 3.6 mBq kg −1 for 234 Th and 6.6 mBq kg −1 for 210 Pb both of which have uncovered some significant equilibrium breaks in the 238 U chain. In denser materials, where gamma-ray self-absorption increases, sensitivity is demonstrated to specific activities of 0.9 mBq kg −1 for 226 Ra, 1.1 mBq kg −1 for 228 Ra, 0.3 mBq kg −1 for 224 Ra, and 8.6 mBq kg −1 for 40 K with all upper limits at a 90% confidence level. These meet the requirements of most screening campaigns presently under way for rare-event search experiments, such as the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment. We also highlight the ability of the BEGe detector to probe the X-ray fluorescence region which can be important to identify the presence of radioisotopes associated with neutron production; this is of particular relevance in experiments sensitive to nuclear recoils.

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“…The methodology used to extract the quenching factor was first applied to liquid argon scintillation by the WARP group [26]; other examples followed [9,[27][28][29]. Experimental data are compared to a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation that includes a detailed description of the experiment.…”

Section: Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ZEPLIN-III is a two-phase (gas-liquid) xenon detector designed to observe low-energy nuclear recoils from galactic weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) [8][9][10][11][12]. For its second science run the detector has been enclosed by a polystyrene-based veto detector [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quenching factor for low-energy nuclear recoils in a plastic scintillator

et al. 2012

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Plastic scintillators are widely used in industry, medicine, and scientific research, including nuclear and particle physics. Although one of their most common applications is in neutron detection, experimental data on their response to low-energy nuclear recoils are scarce. Here, the relative scintillation efficiency for neutroninduced nuclear recoils in a polystyrene-based plastic scintillator (UPS-923A) is presented, exploring recoil energies between 125 and 850 keV. Monte Carlo simulations, incorporating light collection efficiency and energy resolution effects, are used to generate neutron scattering spectra which are matched to observed distributions of scintillation signals to parameterize the energy-dependent quenching factor. At energies above 300 keV the dependence is reasonably described using the semiempirical formulation of Birks and a kB factor of (0.014 ± 0.002) g MeV −1 cm −2 has been determined. Below that energy, the measured quenching factor falls more steeply than predicted by the Birks formalism.

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Results from the first science run of the ZEPLIN-III dark matter search experiment

Cited by 175 publications

References 27 publications

Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics

Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics

Low-background gamma spectroscopy at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

Quenching factor for low-energy nuclear recoils in a plastic scintillator

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