Study of infrared scintillations in gaseous and liquid argon - Part I: methodology and time measurements

Abstract

A methodology to measure Near Infrared (NIR) scintillations in gaseous and liquid Ar, using Geiger-mode APDs (GAPDs) sensitive in the NIR and pulsed X-ray irradiation, is described. This study has been triggered by the development of Cryogenic Avalanche Detectors (CRADs) with optical readout in the NIR using combined THGEM/GAPD multiplier, which may come to be in demand in coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and dark matter search experiments. A new approach to measure the NIR scintillation yield at cryogenic temperatures has been developed, namely using GAPDs in single photoelectron counting mode with time resolution. The time structure of NIR scintillations and their light yield were measured both for primary scintillations and that of secondary at moderate electric fields (electroluminescence), in gaseous and liquid Ar.

17 pages, 15 figures. Submitted to JINST

References in corpus (10)

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• The scintillation of liquid argon
• Advances in Cryogenic Avalanche Detectors
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• Direct observation of avalanche scintillations in a THGEM-based two-phase Ar avalanche detector using Geiger-mode APD
• Infrared scintillation yield in gaseous and liquid argon
• Table-top setup for investigating the scintillation properties of liquid argon
• On the low-temperature performances of THGEM and THGEM/G-APD multipliers in gaseous and two-phase Xe
• Geiger Mode APD performance in a cryogenic two-phase Ar avalanche detector based on THGEMs
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Optical Readout of a Two Phase Liquid Argon TPC using CCD Camera and THGEMs
• On the Electric Breakdown in Liquid Argon at Centimeter Scale
• X-ray ionization yields and energy spectra in liquid argon
• Study of visible-light emission in pure and methane-doped liquid argon
• Observation of primary scintillations in the visible range in liquid argon doped with methane
• First observation of neutral bremsstrahlung electroluminescence in liquid argon
• Operation of a dual-phase xenon detector with wavelength sensitivity from ultraviolet to infrared