Two-phase Xenon Research Articles

Low energy electronic recoils and single electron detection with a liquid Xenon proportional scintillation counter

Liquid xenon (LXe) is a well-studied detector medium to search for rare events in dark matter and neutrino physics. Two-phase xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) can detect electronic and nuclear recoils with energy down to kilo-electron volts (keV). In this paper, we characterize the response of a single-phase liquid xenon proportional scintillation counter (LXePSC), which produces electroluminescence directly in the liquid, to detect electronic recoils at low energies. Our design uses a thin (10–25 μm diameter), central anode wire in a cylindrical LXe target where ionization electrons, created from radiation particles, drift radially towards the anode, and electroluminescence is produced. Both the primary scintillation (S1) and electroluminescence (S2) are detected by photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) surrounding the LXe target. Up to 17 photons are produced per electron, obtained with a 10 μm diameter anode wire, allowing for the highly efficient detection of electronic recoils from beta decays of a tritium source down to ∼ 1 keV. Single electrons, from photoemission of the cathode wires, are observed at a gain of 1.8 photoelectrons (PE) per electron. The delayed signals following the S2 signals are dominated by single-photon-like hits, without evidence for electron signals observed in the two-phase xenon TPCs. We discuss the potential application of such a LXePSC for reactor neutrino detection via Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS).

Electron Noise Generated by Cosmic Muons in the RED-100 Two-Phase Xenon Emission Detector

Electron Noise Generated by Cosmic Muons in the RED-100 Two-Phase Xenon Emission Detector

The RED-100 experiment

The RED-100 two-phase xenon emission detector has been deployed at 19-m distance from the reactor core of the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in 2021–2022 for investigation of the possibility to observe reactor antineutrinos using the effect of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS). The performance of the main systems of the RED-100 setup at operating nuclear power plant is described. There is no correlation of the radioactive background at the experimental setup site with ON and OFF states of the reactor. The data taking run was carried out at the beginning of the year 2022 and covered both the reactor OFF and ON periods.

The electric field dependence of single electron emission in the PIXeY two-phase xenon detector

Dual phase xenon detectors are widely used in experimental searches for galactic dark matter particles. The origin of single electron backgrounds following prompt scintillation and proportional scintillation signals in these detectors is not fully understood, although there has been progress in recent years. In this paper, we describe single electron backgrounds in 83mKr calibration events and their correlation with drift and extraction fields, using the Particle Identification in Xenon at Yale (PIXeY) dual-phase xenon time projection chamber. The single electron background induced by the Fowler-Nordheim (FN) effect is measured, and its electric field dependence is quantified. The photoionization of grids and impurities by prompt scintillation and proportional scintillation also contributes to the single electron background.

Discrimination of electronic recoils from nuclear recoils in two-phase xenon time projection chambers

We present a comprehensive analysis of electronic recoil vs. nuclear recoil discrimination in liquid/gas xenon time projection chambers, using calibration data from the 2013 and 2014-16 runs of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment. We observe strong charge-to-light discrimination enhancement with increased event energy. For events with S1 = 120 detected photons, i.e. equivalent to a nuclear recoil energy of $\sim$100 keV, we observe an electronic recoil background acceptance of $<10^{-5}$ at a nuclear recoil signal acceptance of 50%. We also observe modest electric field dependence of the discrimination power, which peaks at a field of around 300 V/cm over the range of fields explored in this study (50-500 V/cm). In the WIMP search region of S1 = 1-80 phd, the minimum electronic recoil leakage we observe is ${(7.3\pm0.6)\times10^{-4}}$, which is obtained for a drift field of 240-290 V/cm. Pulse shape discrimination is utilized to improve our results, and we find that, at low energies and low fields, there is an additional reduction in background leakage by a factor of up to 3. We develop an empirical model for recombination fluctuations which, when used alongside the Noble Element Scintillation Technique (NEST) simulation package, correctly reproduces the skewness of the electronic recoil data. We use this updated simulation to study the width of the electronic recoil band, finding that its dominant contribution comes from electron-ion recombination fluctuations, followed in magnitude of contribution by fluctuations in the S1 signal, fluctuations in the S2 signal, and fluctuations in the total number of quanta produced for a given energy deposition.

Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7~tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000~live day run using a 5.6~tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90\% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above $1.4 \times 10^{-48}$~cm$^{2}$ for a 40~$\mathrm{GeV}/c^{2}$ mass WIMP. Additionally, a $5\sigma$ discovery potential is projected reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of $2.3 \times 10^{-43}$~cm$^{2}$ ($7.1 \times 10^{-42}$~cm$^{2}$) for a 40~$\mathrm{GeV}/c^{2}$ mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020.

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

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.

Study and mitigation of spurious electron emission from cathodic wires in noble liquid time projection chambers

Noble liquid radiation detectors have long been afflicted by spurious electron emission from their cathodic electrodes. This phenomenon must be understood and mitigated in the next generation of liquid xenon (LXe) experiments searching for WIMP dark matter or neutrinoless double beta decay, and in the large liquid argon (LAr) detectors for the long-baseline neutrino programmes. We present a systematic study of this spurious emission involving a series of slow voltage-ramping tests on fine metal wires immersed in a two-phase xenon time projection chamber with single electron sensitivity. Emission currents as low as 10−18 A can thus be detected by electron counting, a vast improvement over previous dedicated measurements. Emission episodes were recorded at surface fields as low as ∼ 10 kV/cm in some wires and observed to have complex emission patterns, with average rates of 10–200 counts per second (c/s) and outbreaks as high as ∼ 106 c/s. A fainter, less variable type of emission was also present in all untreated samples. There is evidence of a partial conditioning effect, with subsequent tests yielding on average fewer emitters occurring at different fields for the same wire. We find no evidence for an intrinsic threshold particular to the metal-LXe interface which might have limited previous experiments up to fields of at least 160 kV/cm. The general phenomenology is not consistent with enhanced field emission from microscopic filaments, but it appears instead to be related to the quality of the wire surface in terms of corrosion and the nature of its oxide layer. This study concludes that some surface treatments, in particular nitric acid cleaning applied to stainless steel wires, can bring about at least order-of-magnitude improvements in overall electron emission rates, and this should help the next generation of detectors achieve the required electrostatic performance.

A dual-phase xenon TPC for scintillation and ionisation yield measurements in liquid xenon

A small-scale, two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber (Xurich II) was designed, constructed and is under operation at the University of Zürich. Its main purpose is to investigate the microphysics of particle interactions in liquid xenon at energies below 50 keV, which are relevant for rare event searches using xenon as target material. Here we describe in detail the detector, its associated infrastructure, and the signal identification algorithm developed for processing and analysing the data. We present the first characterisation of the new instrument with calibration data from an internal ^{83mathrm {m}}Kr source. The zero-field light yield is 15.0 and 14.0 photoelectrons/keV at 9.4 and 32.1 keV, respectively, and the corresponding values at an electron drift field of 1 kV/cm are 10.8 and 7.9 photoelectrons/keV. The charge yields at these energies are 28 and 31 electrons/keV, with the proportional scintillation yield of 24 photoelectrons per one electron extracted into the gas phase, and an electron lifetime of 200 upmu s. The relative energy resolution, sigma /E, is 11.9 and 5.8% at 9.4 and 32.1 keV, respectively using a linear combination of the scintillation and ionisation signals. We conclude with measurements of the electron drift velocity at various electric fields, and compare these to literature values.

Extraction efficiency of drifting electrons in a two-phase xenon time projection chamber

We present a measurement of the extraction efficiency of quasi-free electrons from the liquid into the gas phase in a two-phase xenon time-projection chamber. The measurements span a range of electric fields from 2.4 to 7.1 kV/cm in the liquid xenon, corresponding to 4.5 to 13.1 kV/cm in the gaseous xenon. Extraction efficiency continues to increase at the highest extraction fields, implying that additional charge signal may be attained in two-phase xenon detectors through careful high-voltage engineering of the gate-anode region.

Calibration of a two-phase xenon time projection chamber with a 37Ar source

We calibrate a two-phase xenon detector at 0.27 keV in the charge channel and at 2.8 keV in both the light and charge channels using a 37Ar source that is directly released into the detector. We map the light and charge yields as a function of electric drift field. For the 2.8 keV peak, we calculate the Thomas-Imel box parameter for recombination and determine its dependence on drift field. For the same peak, we achieve an energy resolution, Eσ/Emean, between 9.8% and 10.8% for 0.1 kV/cm to 2 kV/cm electric drift fields.

Performance of Hamamatsu R11410-20 PMTs under intense illumination in a two-phase cryogenic emission detector

Hamamatsu R11410-20 PMTs are used in the RED-100 two-phase xenon emission detector built to search for the rare process of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering using intense artificial neutrino flux. We demonstrate how to adapt the PMTs for their operation under strong illumination caused by electroluminescent signals from gamma and cosmogenic muon backgrounds which are significant at shallow depth experimental sites. The PMT linearity is demonstrated for signals in the dynamic range from 1 to 2*104 photoelectrons. Impact of a photoelectric effect at the PMT first dynode to the capabilities of the RED-100 photodetection system is studied and quantified.

Prospects for dark matter detection with inelastic transitions of xenon

Dark matter can scatter and excite a nucleus to a low-lying excitation in a direct detection experiment. This signature is distinct from the canonical elastic scattering signal because the inelastic signal also contains the energy deposited from the subsequent prompt de-excitation of the nucleus. A measurement of the elastic and inelastic signal will allow a single experiment to distinguish between a spin-independent and spin-dependent interaction. For the first time, we characterise the inelastic signal for two-phase xenon detectors in which dark matter inelastically scatters off the 129Xe or 131Xe isotope. We do this by implementing a realistic simulation of a typical tonne-scale two-phase xenon detector and by carefully estimating the relevant background signals. With our detector simulation, we explore whether the inelastic signal from the axial-vector interaction is detectable with upcoming tonne-scale detectors. We find that two-phase detectors allow for some discrimination between signal and background so that it is possible to detect dark matter that inelastically scatters off either the 129Xe or 131Xe isotope for dark matter particles that are heavier than approximately 010 GeV . If, after two years of data, the XENON1T search for elastic scattering nuclei finds no evidence for dark matter, the possibility of ever detecting an inelastic signal from the axial-vector interaction will be almost entirely excluded.

An exciting prospect: detecting inelastic transitions of xenon caused by dark matter

Dark matter can scatter and excite the xenon isotopes 129Xe and 131Xe to a low-lying excitation in a direct detection experiment. This signature is distinct from the canonical elastic scattering signal because the inelastic signal also contains the energy deposited from the subsequent prompt de-excitation of the nucleus. A measurement of the elastic and inelastic signal will allow a single experiment to distinguish between a spin-independent and spin-dependent interaction. In this paper, I will discuss the prospects of detecting this inelastic signal with up-coming tonne-scale two-phase xenon direct detection experiments.

FPGA-based trigger system for the LUX dark matter experiment

LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils resulting from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the detector are processed with an FPGA-based digital trigger system that analyzes the incoming data in real-time, with just a few microsecond latency. The system enables first pass selection of events of interest based on their pulse shape characteristics and 3D localization of the interactions. It has been shown to be >99% efficient in triggering on S2 signals induced by only few extracted liquid electrons. It is continuously and reliably operating since its full underground deployment in early 2013. This document is an overview of the systems capabilities, its inner workings, and its performance.

The impact of photon flight path on S1 pulse shape analysis in liquid xenon two-phase detectors

The LUX dark matter search experiment is a 350 kg dual-phase xenon time projection chamber located at the 4850 ft level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD. The success of two-phase xenon detectors for dark matter searches relies on their ability to distinguish electron recoil (ER) background events from nuclear recoil (NR) signal events. Typically, the NR-ER discrimination is obtained from the ratio of the electroluminescence light (S2) to the prompt scintillation light (S1). Analysis of the S1 pulse shape is an additional discrimination technique that can be used to distinguish NR from ER. Pulse-shape NR-ER discrimination can be achieved based on the ratio of the de-excitation processes from singlet and triplet states that generate the S1. The NR S1 is dominated by the de-excitation process from singlet states with a time constant of about 3 ns while the ER S1 is dominated by the de-excitation process from triplet states with a time constant of about 24 ns. As the size of the detectors increases, the variation in the S1 photon flight path can become comparable to these decay constants, reducing the utility of pulse-shape analysis to separate NR from ER. The effect of path length variations in the LUX detector has been studied using the results of simulations and the impact on the S1 pulse shape analysis is discussed.

Noise characteristics of low-background Hamamatsu R11410-20 photomultiplier tubes

The RED-100 two-phase liquid xenon emission detector is developed today for the experiment aimed at searching for elastic coherent neutrino scattering off atomic nuclei. The main elements of the photodetector system of the RED-100 detector are Hamamatsu R11410-20 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) dedicated for low-background experiments and liquid xenon environment. The basic characteristics of the PMTs are investigated, in particular, noise pulses and afterpulses, which may cause difficulties in searching for rare events. Amplitude distributions of the noise pulses and time distributions of the afterpulses, as well as the dependences of the noise pulse rate on the PMT bias voltage and the temperature are presented.

The LUX Experiment

We present the status and prospects of the LUX experiment, which employs approximately 300kg of two-phase xenon to search for WIMP dark matter interactions. The LUX detector was commissioned at the surface laboratory of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD, between December 2011 and February 2012 and the detector has been operating underground since January, 2013. These proceedings review the results of the commissioning run as well as the status of underground data-taking through the summer of 2013.

Development of the liquid level meters for the PandaX dark matter detector

The two-phase xenon detector is at the frontier of dark matter direct search. This kind of detector uses liquid xenon as the sensitive target and is operated in two-phase (liquid/gas) mode, where the liquid level needs to be monitored and controlled in sub-millimeter precision. In this paper, we present a detailed design and study of two kinds of level meters for the PandaX dark matter detector. The long level meter is used to monitor the overall liquid level while short level meters are used to monitor the inclination of the detector. These level meters are cylindrical capacitors that are custom-made from two concentric metal tubes. Their capacitance values are read out by a universal transducer interface chip and are recorded by the PandaX slow control system. We present the developments that lead to level meters with long-term stability and sub-millimeter precision. Fluctuations (standard deviations) of less than 0.02 mm for the short level meters and less than 0.2 mm for the long level meter were achieved during a few days of test operation.

Prospects for observation of neutrino-nuclear neutral current coherent scattering with two-phase Xenon emission detector

We propose to detect and to study neutrino neutral current coherent scattering off atomic nuclei with a two-phase emission detector using liquid xenon as a working medium. Expected signals and backgrounds are calculated for two possible experimental sites: the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant in the Russian Federation and the Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S.A. Both sites have advantages as well as limitations. The experiment looks feasible at either location.