Publications (52)
Measurement of the Xe two-neutrino double beta decay half-life via direct background subtraction in NEXT
NEXT Collaboration, P. Novella, M. Sorel +107
We report a measurement of the half-life of the Xe two-neutrino double beta decay performed with a novel direct background subtraction technique. The analysis relies on t…
Demonstration of Sub-Percent Energy Resolution in the NEXT-100 Detector
NEXT Collaboration, M. Pérez Maneiro, M. MartÃnez-Vara +111
NEXT-100 is a high-pressure xenon time projection chamber with electroluminescent amplification, designed to operate with up to approximately 70.5 kg at 13.5 bar. It is the most re…
Fine Structure of the 1s3p ^3P_J Level in Atomic ^4He: Theory and Experiment
P. Mueller, L. -B. Wang, G. W. F. Drake +3
We report on a theoretical calculation and a new experimental determination of the 1s3p ^3P_J fine structure intervals in atomic ^4He. The values from the theoretical calculation o…
Rapid processing of 85Kr/Kr ratios using Atom Trap Trace Analysis
J. C. Zappala, K. Bailey, P. Mueller +2
We report a methodology for measuring 85Kr/Kr isotopic abundances using Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) that increases sample measurement throughput by over an order of magnitude t…
Calibration of the NEXT-White detector using decays
G. MartÃnez-Lema, J. A. Hernando Morata, B. Palmeiro +74
The NEXT-White (NEW) detector is currently the largest radio-pure high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber with electroluminescent readout in the world. NEXT-White has been…
Laser-trapping of Ra-225 and Ra-226 with repumping by room temperature blackbody radiation
J. R. Guest, N. D. Scielzo, I. Ahmad +6
We have demonstrated Zeeman slowing and capture of neutral Ra-225 and Ra-226 atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The intercombination transition 1S0-3P1 is the only quasi-cyclin…
ATHENA Detector Proposal -- A Totally Hermetic Electron Nucleus Apparatus proposed for IP6 at the Electron-Ion Collider
ATHENA Collaboration, J. Adam, L. Adamczyk +433
ATHENA has been designed as a general purpose detector capable of delivering the full scientific scope of the Electron-Ion Collider. Careful technology choices provide fine trackin…
Sensitivity of the NEXT experiment to Xe-124 double electron capture
G. MartÃnez-Lema, M. MartÃnez-Vara, M. Sorel +88
Double electron capture by proton-rich nuclei is a second-order nuclear process analogous to double beta decay. Despite their similarities, the decay signature is quite different,…
Quasifree Lambda, Sigma^0, and Sigma^- electroproduction from 1,2H, 3,4He, and carbon
F. Dohrmann, A. Ahmidouch, C. S. Armstrong +60
Kaon electroproduction from light nuclei and hydrogen, using 1H, 2H, 3He, 4He, and Carbon targets has been measured at Jefferson Laboratory. The quasifree angular distributions of…
Performance of an Optical TPC Geant4 Simulation with Opticks GPU-Accelerated Photon Propagation
NEXT Collaboration, I. Parmaksiz, K. Mistry +113
We investigate the performance of Opticks, a NVIDIA OptiX API 7.5 GPU-accelerated photon propagation tool compared with a single-threaded Geant4 simulation. We compare the simulati…
Radiogenic backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment
NEXT Collaboration, P. Novella, B. Palmeiro +88
Natural radioactivity represents one of the main backgrounds in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Within the NEXT physics program, the radioactivity-induced background…
A Thermal Beam of Metastable Krypton Atoms Produced by Optical Excitation
Y. Ding, S. -M. Hu, K. Bailey +5
A room-temperature beam of krypton atoms in the metastable 5s[3/2]2 level is demonstrated via an optical excitation method. A Kr-discharge lamp is used to produce VUV photons at 12…
Sensitivity of a tonne-scale NEXT detector for neutrinoless double beta decay searches
NEXT Collaboration, C. Adams, V. Ãlvarez +96
The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT) searches for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of Xe-136 using high-pressure xenon gas TPCs with electroluminescent amplification.…
Demonstration of background rejection using deep convolutional neural networks in the NEXT experiment
NEXT Collaboration, M. Kekic, C. Adams +88
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are widely used state-of-the-art computer vision tools that are becoming increasingly popular in high energy physics. In this paper, we attempt…
Optical Excitation and Decay Dynamics of Ytterbium Atoms Embedded in a Solid Neon Matrix
C. -Y. Xu, S. -M. Hu, J. Singh +5
Neutral ytterbium atoms embedded in solid neon qualitatively retain the structure of free atoms. Despite the atom-solid interaction, the 6s6p P level is found to remain met…
Laser Spectroscopic Determination of the 6He Nuclear Charge Radius
L. -B. Wang, P. Mueller, K. Bailey +12
We have performed precision laser spectroscopy on individual 6He (t1/2 = 0.8 s) atoms confined and cooled in a magneto-optical trap, and measured the isotope shift between 6He and…
Energy calibration of the NEXT-White detector with 1% resolution near Q of Xe
J. Renner, G. DÃaz López, P. Ferrario +87
Excellent energy resolution is one of the primary advantages of electroluminescent high pressure xenon TPCs, and searches for rare physics events such as neutrinoless double-beta d…
Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier
J. L. Hewett, H. Weerts, R. Brock +465
The Proceedings of the 2011 workshop on Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier. Science opportunities at the intensity frontier are identified and described in the areas of…
Reconstructing neutrinoless double beta decay event kinematics in a xenon gas detector with vertex tagging
NEXT Collaboration, M. MartÃnez-Vara, K. Mistry +108
If neutrinoless double beta decay is discovered, the next natural step would be understanding the lepton number violating physics responsible for it. Several alternatives exist bey…
Demonstration of the event identification capabilities of the NEXT-White detector
NEXT Collaboration, P. Ferrario, J. M. Benlloch-RodrÃguez +88
In experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay, the possibility of identifying the two emitted electrons is a powerful tool in rejecting background events and therefor…
Ar-39 Detection at the 10^-16 Isotopic Abundance Level with Atom Trap Trace Analysis
W. Jiang, W. D. Williams, K. Bailey +8
Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a laser-based atom counting method, has been applied to analyze atmospheric Ar-39 (half-life = 269 yr), a cosmogenic isotope with an isotopic abund…
Radio Frequency and DC High Voltage Breakdown of High Pressure Helium, Argon, and Xenon
K. Woodruff, J. Baeza-Rubio, D. Huerta +91
Motivated by the possibility of guiding daughter ions from double beta decay events to single-ion sensors for barium tagging, the NEXT collaboration is developing a program of R&D…
Design, characterization and installation of the NEXT-100 cathode and electroluminescence regions
NEXT Collaboration, K. Mistry, L. Rogers +107
NEXT-100 is currently being constructed at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees and will search for neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure…
First results of the NEXT-100 detector using Kr decays
NEXT Collaboration, G. MartÃnez-Lema, C. Hervés Carrete +113
The NEXT collaboration is investigating the double beta decay of Xe using high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chambers, which provide excellent energy reso…
Efficient, Tightly-Confined Trapping of 226Ra
R. H. Parker, M. R. Dietrich, K. Bailey +10
We demonstrate a technique for transferring Ra atoms from a 3-dimensional magneto-optical-trap (MOT) into a standing wave optical dipole trap (ODT) in an adjacent chamber.…
Nuclear charge radius of He
P. Mueller, I. A. Sulai, A. C. C. Villari +15
The root-mean-square (rms) nuclear charge radius of ^8He, the most neutron-rich of all particle-stable nuclei, has been determined for the first time to be 1.93(3) fm. In addition,…
Measurement of radon-induced backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment
NEXT Collaboration, P. Novella, B. Palmeiro +79
The measurement of the internal Rn activity in the NEXT-White detector during the so-called Run-II period with Xe-depleted xenon is discussed in detail, together wi…
Counting individual 41Ca atoms with a magneto-optical trap
I. D. Moore, K. Bailey, J. Greene +6
Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a novel method based upon laser trapping and cooling, is used to count individual atoms of 41Ca present in biomedical samples with isotopic abundan…
Boosting background suppression in the NEXT experiment through Richardson-Lucy deconvolution
A. Simón, Y. Ifergan, A. B. Redwine +100
Next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments aim for half-life sensitivities of ~ yr, requiring suppressing backgrounds to <1 count/tonne/yr. For this, any e…
Dependence of polytetrafluoroethylene reflectance on thickness at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths in air
S. Ghosh, J. Haefner, J. MartÃn-Albo +88
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an excellent diffuse reflector widely used in light collection systems for particle physics experiments. However, the reflectance of PTFE is a fun…
Initial results on energy resolution of the NEXT-White detector
J. Renner, P. Ferrario, G. MartÃnez-Lema +77
One of the major goals of the NEXT-White (NEW) detector is to demonstrate the energy resolution that an electroluminescent high pressure xenon TPC can achieve for high energy track…
NEXT-CRAB-0: A High Pressure Gaseous Xenon Time Projection Chamber with a Direct VUV Camera Based Readout
NEXT Collaboration, N. K. Byrnes, I. Parmaksiz +116
The search for neutrinoless double beta decay () remains one of the most compelling experimental avenues for the discovery in the neutrino sector. Electroluminescent gas-p…
High Voltage Delivery and Distribution for the NEXT-100 Time Projection Chamber
NEXT Collaboration, C. Adams, H. Almazán +105
A critical element in the realization of large liquid and gas time projection chambers (TPCs) is the delivery and distribution of high voltages into and around the detector. Such e…
The NEXT-100 Detector
NEXT Collaboration, C. Adams, H. Almazán +114
The NEXT collaboration is dedicated to the study of double beta decays of Xe using a high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chamber. This advanced technology…
Reflectance and fluorescence characteristics of PTFE coated with TPB at visible, UV, and VUV as a function of thickness
J. Haefner, A. Fahs, J. Ho +100
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an excellent diffuse reflector widely used in light collection systems for particle physics experiments. In noble element systems, it is often coa…
A Compact Dication Source for Ba Tagging and Heavy Metal Ion Sensor Development
K. E. Navarro, B. J. P. Jones, J. Baeza-Rubio +107
We present a tunable metal ion beam that delivers controllable ion currents in the picoamp range for testing of dry-phase ion sensors. Ion beams are formed by sequential atomic eva…
Neutral Bremsstrahlung emission in xenon unveiled
C. A. O. Henriques, P. Amedo, J. M. R. Teixeira +90
We present evidence of non-excimer-based secondary scintillation in gaseous xenon, obtained using both the NEXT-White TPC and a dedicated setup. Detailed comparison with first-prin…
One million year old groundwater in the Sahara revealed by krypton-81 and chlorine-36
N. C. Sturchio, X. Du, R. Purtschert +15
Measurements of 81Kr/Kr in deep groundwater from the Nubian Aquifer (Egypt) were performed by a new laser-based atom-counting method. 81Kr ages range from \~2x10^5 to ~1x10^6 yr, c…
Measurement of Energy Resolution with the NEXT-White Silicon Photomultipliers
T. Contreras, B. Palmeiro, H. Almazán +107
The NEXT-White detector, a high-pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber, demonstrated the excellence of this technology for future neutrinoless double beta decay searches us…
Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit
C. A. O. Henriques, C. M. B. Monteiro, D. González-DÃaz +78
The NEXT experiment aims at searching for the hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta decay from the Xe isotope using a high-purity xenon TPC. Efficient discrimination of t…
The Dynamics of Ions on Phased Radio-frequency Carpets in High Pressure Gases and Application for Barium Tagging in Xenon Gas Time Projection Chambers
NEXT Collaboration, B. J. P. Jones, A. Raymond +107
Radio-frequency (RF) carpets with ultra-fine pitches are examined for ion transport in gases at atmospheric pressures and above. We develop new analytic and computational methods f…
Measuring the cross section of the N(,)F reaction using a single-fluid bubble chamber
D. Neto, K. Bailey, J. F. Benesch +17
N(,)F is believed to be the primary means of stellar nucleosynthesis of fluorine. Here we present the use of a single-fluid bubble chamber to measure the cros…
Demonstration of Event Position Reconstruction based on Diffusion in the NEXT-White Detector
J. Haefner, K. E. Navarro, R. Guenette +108
Noble element time projection chambers are a leading technology for rare event detection in physics, such as for dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay searches. Time proje…
Mitigation of Backgrounds from Cosmogenic Xe in Xenon Gas Experiments using He Neutron Capture
L. Rogers, B. J. P. Jones, A. Laing +89
\Xe{136} is used as the target medium for many experiments searching for \bbnonu. Despite underground operation, cosmic muons that reach the laboratory can produce spallation neutr…
The Next White (NEW) detector
F. Monrabal, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, J. F. Toledo +72
Conceived to host 5 kg of xenon at a pressure of 15 bar in the fiducial volume, the NEXT- White (NEW) apparatus is currently the largest high pressure xenon gas TPC using electrolu…
Setting a Limit on Anthropogenic Sources of Atmospheric 81Kr through Atom Trap Trace Analysis
J. C. Zappala, K. Bailey, W. Jiang +4
We place a 2.5% limit on the anthropogenic contribution to the modern abundance of 81Kr/Kr in the atmosphere at the 90% confidence level. Due to its simple production and transport…
Electron Drift and Longitudinal Diffusion in High Pressure Xenon-Helium Gas Mixtures
A. D. McDonald, K. Woodruff, B. Al Atoum +83
We report new measurements of the drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion coefficients of electrons in pure xenon gas and in xenon-helium gas mixtures at 1-9 bar and electric fie…
Fluorescence Imaging of Individual Ions and Molecules in Pressurized Noble Gases for Barium Tagging in Xe
NEXT Collaboration, N. Byrnes, E. Dey +112
The imaging of individual Ba ions in high pressure xenon gas is one possible way to attain background-free sensitivity to neutrinoless double beta decay and hence establish…
Ba ion trapping by organic submonolayer: towards an ultra-low background neutrinoless double beta decay detector
P. Herrero-Gómez, J. P. Calupitan, M. Ilyn +112
If neutrinos are their own antiparticles, the otherwise-forbidden nuclear reaction known as neutrinoless double beta decay () can occur, with a characteristic lifetime whi…
A New Method of Measuring 81Kr and 85Kr Abundances in Environmental Samples
X. Du, R. Purtschert, K. Bailey +7
We demonstrate a new method for determining the 81Kr/Kr ratio in environmental samples based upon two measurements: the 85Kr/81Kr ratio measured by Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA)…
Demonstration of neutrinoless double beta decay searches in gaseous xenon with NEXT
NEXT Collaboration, P. Novella, M. Sorel +112
The NEXT experiment aims at the sensitive search of the neutrinoless double beta decay in Xe, using high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chambers. The NEXT-…
Low-diffusion Xe-He gas mixtures for rare-event detection: Electroluminescence Yield
A. F. M. Fernandes, C. A. O. Henriques, R. D. P. Mano +88
High pressure xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification are being proposed for rare event detection such as d…