Towards 14C-free liquid scintillator

T Enqvist ,Svetlana Krokhaleva ,Б Лубсандоржиев ,G Ya Novikova ,P Kuusiniemi ,W H Trzaska ,A Veresnikova ,I Barabanov ,L Bezrukov ,V Gurentsov ,M S Lupecki ,J Hissa ,A Virkajärvi ,Jari Joutsenvaara ,V Yu Grishina ,V V Sinev ,A M Pshukov ,Kai Loo ,Y A Yanovich ,Johanna Kutuniva ,Sultim Lubsandorzhiev ,Sh I Umerov ,A S Kurlovich ,A M Gangapshev ,V V Kazalov ,V P Morgalyuk ,Yu M Gavrilyuk ,V V Kuzminov ,В П Заварзина

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/888/1/012098

Abstract

A series of measurements has been started where the 14C concentration is determined from several liquid scintillator samples. A dedicated setup has been designed and constructed with the aim of measuring concentrations smaller than 10−18. Measurements take place in two underground laboratories: in the Baksan Neutrino Observatory, Russia, and in the new Callio Lab in the Pyhäsalmi mine, Finland.Low-energy neutrino detection with a liquid scintillator requires that the intrinsic 14C concentration in the liquid is extremely low. In the Borexino CTF detector the concentration of 2 × 10−18 has been achieved being the lowest value ever measured. In principle, the older the oil or gas source that the liquid scintillator is derived from and the deeper it situates, the smaller the 14C concentration is supposed to be. This, however, is not generally the case and the concentration is probably due to the U and Th content of the local environment.

Highlights

The intrinsic 14C concentration in a liquid is the main source of background at very low energies in high-purity liquid scintillation detectors
Based on the analysis of the 14C concentration in liquid scintillators derived from deep oil and gas fields [6], values lower than 10−18 should be achievable if the source is carefully chosen
The central part of the detector setup of the present work consists of two low-activity PMTs (3” ET 9302B), two acryllic light guides and a quartz vessel of 1.6 litres

Summary

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Introduction

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