Evaluation of cosmogenic production of 39Ar and 42Ar for rare-event physics using underground argon

Abstract

Underground argon (UAr) with lower cosmogenic activities of 39Ar and 42Ar has been planned as a detector in detecting scintillation light and charge collection using time projection chambers for dark matter searches and as a veto detector in suppressing backgrounds for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) experiments. Long-lived radioactive isotopes, 39Ar and 42Ar, can also be produced on the surface when UAr is pumped out from a deep well. Understanding the production of long-lived isotopes in Ar is important for utilizing UAr for dark matter and 0νββ experiments in terms of its production, transportation, and storage. Ar exposure to cosmic rays at sea-level is simulated using Geant4 for a given cosmic ray muon, neutron, and proton energy spectrum. We report the simulated cosmogenic production rates of 39Ar, 42Ar, and other long-lived isotopes at sea-level from fast neutrons, high energy muons, and high energy protons. Total production rates of 938.53/kgArday and 5.81 × 10−3/kgArday for 39Ar and 42Ar are found from our simulation. Utilizing these production rates, we set a time limit of 954 days constrained by the production of 39Ar for UAr to be on the surface before it compromises the sensitivity for a dark matter experiment. Similarly, a time limit of 1702 days constrained by the production of 42Ar is found for a 0νββ experiment.