Radiogenic Backgrounds Research Articles

QUEST-DMC: Background Modelling and Resulting Heat Deposit for a Superfluid Helium-3 Bolometer

We report the results of radioactivity assays and heat leak calculations for a range of common cryogenic materials, considered for use in the QUEST-DMC superfluid 3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^3$$\\end{document}He dark matter detector. The bolometer, instrumented with nanomechanical resonators, will be sensitive to energy deposits from dark matter interactions. Events from radioactive decays and cosmic rays constitute a significant background and must be precisely modelled, using a combination of material screening and Monte Carlo simulations. However, the results presented here are of wider interest for experiments and quantum devices sensitive to minute heat leaks and spurious events, thus we present heat leak per unit mass or surface area for every material studied. This can inform material choices for other experiments, especially if underground operation is considered – where the radiogenic backgrounds will dominate even at shallow depths.

Exotic Dark Matter Search with the Majorana Demonstrator

With excellent energy resolution and ultralow-level radiogenic backgrounds, the high-purity germanium detectors in the enable searches for several classes of exotic dark matter (DM) models. In this work, we report new experimental limits on keV-scale sterile neutrino DM via the transition magnetic moment from conversion to active neutrinos νs→νa. We report new limits on fermionic dark matter absorption (χ+A→ν+A) and sub-GeV DM-nucleus 3→2 scattering (χ+χ+A→ϕ+A), and new exclusion limits for bosonic dark matter (axionlike particles and dark photons). These searches utilize the (1–100)-keV low-energy region of a 37.5-kg y exposure collected by the between May 2016 and November 2019 using a set of Ge76-enriched detectors whose surface exposure time was carefully controlled, resulting in extremely low levels of cosmogenic activation. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

CUTE: A Cryogenic Underground TEst facility at SNOLAB

Low-temperature cryogenics open the door for a range of interesting technologies based on features like superconductivity and superfluidity, low-temperature phase transitions or the low heat capacity of non-metals in the milli-Kelvin range. Devices based on these technologies are often sensitive to small energy depositions as can be caused by environmental radiation. The Cryogenic Underground TEst facility (CUTE) at SNOLAB is a platform for testing and operating cryogenic devices in an environment with low levels of background. The large experimental chamber (O(10) L) reaches a base temperature of ∼ 12 mK; it can hold a payload of up to ∼ 20 kg and provides a radiogenic background event rate as low as a few events/kg/keV/day in the energy range below about 100 keV, as well as a negligible muon rate (O1)/month). CUTE was designed and built in the context of the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment (SuperCDMS) that uses cryogenic detectors to search for interactions of dark matter particles with ordinary matter. The facility has been used to test SuperCDMS detectors since its commissioning in 2019. In 2021, it was handed over to SNOLAB to become a SNOLAB user facility after the completion of the testing of detectors for SuperCDMS. The facility will be available for projects that benefit from these special conditions, based on proposals assessed for their scientific and technological merits. This article describes the main design features and operating parameters of CUTE.

NEXT-CRAB-0: a high pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber with a direct VUV camera based readout

The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) remains one of the most compelling experimental avenues for the discovery in the neutrino sector. Electroluminescent gas-phase time projection chambers are well suited to 0νββ searches due to their intrinsically precise energy resolution and topological event identification capabilities. Scalability to ton- and multi-ton masses requires readout of large-area electroluminescent regions with fine spatial resolution, low radiogenic backgrounds, and a scalable data acquisition system. This paper presents a detector prototype that records event topology in an electroluminescent xenon gas TPC via VUV image-intensified cameras. This enables an extendable readout of large tracking planes with commercial devices that reside almost entirely outside of the active medium. Following further development in intermediate scale demonstrators, this technique may represent a novel and enlargeable method for topological event imaging in 0νββ.

A novel active veto prototype detector with an inner target for improved rare event searches

We report the fabrication and performance of an annular, cryogenic, phonon-mediated veto detector that can host an inner target detector, allowing substantial reduction in radiogenic backgrounds for rare event search experiments. A germanium veto detector of mass ∼500 g with an outer diameter of 76 mm and an inner diameter of 28 mm was produced inside of which was mounted a 25 mm diameter germanium inner target detector of mass ∼10 g. The detector was designed using inputs from a GEANT4 based simulation, where it was modeled to be sandwiched between two germanium detectors. The simulation showed that the background rates (dominated by gamma interactions) could be reduced by > 90%, and that such an arrangement is sufficient for aggressive background reduction needed for neutrino and dark matter search experiments. Operating at mK temperatures at the experimental site, the veto detector prototype achieved a baseline resolution of 1.24 ± 0.02 keV while hosting a functional inner target detector. The baseline resolution of the inner target detector was 147 ± 2 eV. The experimental results of an identical detector arrangement are in excellent agreement with the simulation.

Radiogenic backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment

Natural radioactivity represents one of the main backgrounds in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Within the NEXT physics program, the radioactivity- induced backgrounds are measured with the NEXT-White detector. Data from 37.9 days of low-background operations at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc with xenon depleted in 136Xe are analyzed to derive a total background rate of (0.84±0.02) mHz above 1000 keV. The comparison of data samples with and without the use of the radon abatement system demonstrates that the contribution of airborne-Rn is negligible. A radiogenic background model is built upon the extensive radiopurity screening campaign conducted by the NEXT collaboration. A spectral fit to this model yields the specific contributions of 60Co, 40K, 214Bi and 208Tl to the total background rate, as well as their location in the detector volumes. The results are used to evaluate the impact of the radiogenic backgrounds in the double beta decay analyses, after the application of topological cuts that reduce the total rate to (0.25±0.01) mHz. Based on the best-fit background model, the NEXT-White median sensitivity to the two-neutrino double beta decay is found to be 3.5σ after 1 year of data taking. The background measurement in a Qββ±100 keV energy window validates the best-fit background model also for the neutrinoless double beta decay search with NEXT-100. Only one event is found, while the model expectation is (0.75±0.12) events.

Search for low-mass WIMPs in a 0.6 kg day exposure of the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB

We present results of a dark matter search performed with a 0.6 kg day exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. We measure the energy spectrum of ionization events in the bulk silicon of charge-coupled devices down to a signal of 60 eV electron equivalent. The data are consistent with radiogenic backgrounds, and constraints on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section are accordingly placed. A region of parameter space relevant to the potential signal from the CDMS-II Si experiment is excluded using the same target for the first time. This result obtained with a limited exposure demonstrates the potential to explore the low-mass WIMP region (<10 GeV/$c^{2}$) of the upcoming DAMIC100, a 100 g detector currently being installed in SNOLAB.

Solar neutrino detection in a large volume double-phase liquid argon experiment

Precision measurements of solar neutrinos emitted by specific nuclear reaction chains in the Sun are of great interest for developing an improved understanding of star formation and evolution. Given the expected neutrino fluxes and known detection reactions, such measurements require detectors capable of collecting neutrino-electron scattering data in exposures on the order of 1 ktonne-yr, with good energy resolution and extremely low background. Two-phase liquid argon time projection chambers (LAr TPCs) are under development for direct Dark Matter WIMP searches, which possess very large sensitive mass, high scintillation light yield, good energy resolution, and good spatial resolution in all three cartesian directions. While enabling Dark Matter searches with sensitivity extending to the ``neutrino floor'' (given by the rate of nuclear recoil events from solar neutrino coherent scattering), such detectors could also enable precision measurements of solar neutrino fluxes using the neutrino-electron elastic scattering events. Modeling results are presented for the cosmogenic and radiogenic backgrounds affecting solar neutrino detection in a 300 tonne (100 tonne fiducial) LAr TPC operating at LNGS depth (3,800 meters of water equivalent). The results show that such a detector could measure the CNO neutrino rate with ∼15% precision, and significantly improve the precision of the 7Be and pep neutrino rates compared to the currently available results from the Borexino organic liquid scintillator detector.

Performance of a SensL-30035-16P silicon photomultiplier array at liquid argon temperature

Next generation multi-ton scale noble liquid experiments have the unique opportunity to discover dark matter particles at the TeV scale, reaching the sensitivity of 10−48 cm2 in the WIMP nucleon scattering cross-section. A prerequisite will be the reduction of radiogenic background sources to negligible levels. This is only possible if ultra-pure high efficiency photosensors are available for the scintillation light readout. Current experiments (e.g. Xenon, LUX, Darkside, ArDM) use cryogenic PMTs as photosensors. An attractive alternative is represented by silicon photomultiplier arrays (SiPM arrays), which show unrivalled performances in single photon detection. This paper reports on the performance of the SensL-ArrayB-30035-16P SiPM array and a custom made cryogenic front-end board at the liquid argon temperature. Its performance at VOV=3.5 V, where the PDE is maximal, are very promising in terms of SPE resolution (about 8%), dark rate (about 250 Hz) and correlated pulses (30%).

Study well-shaped germanium detectors for low-background counting

Radiogenic particles are known as the main sources of background for all ultra-low background experiments in the detection of dark matter and neutrino properties. In particular, the radiogenic gamma rays from PMTs are a main component of the observed backgrounds in the noble liquid detectors such as XENON100 and LUX. This suggests a more accurate screening of PMTs is needed for the next generation experiments such as LUX-Zplin or Xenon1T. Hence, we propose to develop well-shaped germanium detectors for a better understanding of the radiogenic background from PMTs. A well-shaped germanium detector array and PMT (R11410MOD) have been designed in a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation, in which three radiogenic background isotopes from 238U, 232Th and 40K have been studied. In this work, we show the detector performance including the detector efficiency, energy resolution and the detector sensitivity for low-background counting in the detection of rare event physics.

Radiogenic and muon-induced backgrounds in the LUX dark matter detector

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment aims to detect rare low-energy interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The radiogenic backgrounds in the LUX detector have been measured and compared with Monte Carlo simulation. Measurements of LUX high-energy data have provided direct constraints on all background sources contributing to the background model. The expected background rate from the background model for the 85.3day WIMP search run is (2.6±0.2stat±0.4sys)×10-3 events keVee-1kg-1day-1 in a 118kg fiducial volume. The observed background rate is (3.6±0.4stat)×10-3 events keVee-1kg-1day-1, consistent with model projections. The expectation for the radiogenic background in a subsequent one-year run is presented.

Formation of Grooved Terrain on Ganymede: Extensional Instability Mediated by Cold, Superplastic Creep

The morphology of Ganymede's bright terrain is dominated at multikilometer wavelengths by sets of subparallel, linear-to-sinuous ridges and troughs, collectively known as grooves. It has been often suggested that the grooves are the result of a necking-type extensional instability, but the detailed analysis of Herrick and Stevenson (1990, Icarus 85, 191–204) concluded that such instabilities were not sufficiently strong to explain the observed topographic relief. We have reexamined this model, wherein an instability arises when a strong plastic or brittle layer and underlying viscous or ductile substrate undergo extension, by incorporating the recently determined flow laws for superplastic creep of cold ice at low stresses. The behavior of these flow laws is closer to Newtonian than to earlier determined, high-stress flow laws. The power-law creep of very cold ice at high stresses has also been remeasured to be very stress dependent, which decreases its influence with respect to other flow mechanisms at low stresses. In addition, because of a dimmer, younger Sun and potentially higher albedos of recently emplaced bright terrain material, surface temperatures in bright terrain were probably lower during the time of groove genesis than they are today. Both incorporation of closer-to-Newtonian ductile flow laws and lower temperatures serve to better decouple the strong, deforming layer from the substrate, resulting in the development of stronger instabilities. Consequently, we find that it is possible to generate sufficiently strong instabilities at topographic wavelengths consistent with the grooved terrain topography of Ganymede and at geologically plausible strain rates (∼10 −16 to 10 −14 s −1 for specific examples). With sufficient strain, it is even possible to form grooves in dark terrain. The required thermal gradients for groove formation in either bright or dark terrain are one-to-a-few ×10 K km −1, which r equire exceptional heat flows with respect to the steady-state radiogenic background.