Application of the TPB Wavelength Shifter to the DEAP-3600 Spherical Acrylic Vessel Inner Surface

Abstract

DEAP-3600 uses liquid argon contained in a spherical acrylic vessel as a target medium to perform a sensitive spin-independent dark matter search. Argon scintillates in the vacuum ultraviolet spectrum, which requires wavelength shifting to convert the VUV photons to visible so they can be transmitted through the acrylic light guides and detected by the surrounding photomultiplier tubes. The wavelength shifter 1,1,4,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene was evaporatively deposited to the inner surface of the acrylic vessel under vacuum. Two evaporations were performed on the DEAP-3600 acrylic vessel with an estimated coating thickness of 3.00 $\pm$ 0.02 $\mu$m which is successfully wavelength shifting with liquid argon in the detector. Details on the wavelength shifter coating requirements, deposition source, testing, and final performance are presented.

arXiv comment17 pages, 15 figures, to be published in JINST

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• Fluorescence Efficiency and Visible Re-emission Spectrum of Tetraphenyl Butadiene Films at Extreme Ultraviolet Wavelengths
• A Model of Nuclear Recoil Scintillation Efficiency in Noble Liquids
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• Radon backgrounds in the DEAP-1 liquid-argon-based Dark Matter detector
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• DEAP-3600 Dark Matter Search
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• In-situ characterization of the Hamamatsu R5912-HQE photomultiplier tubes used in the DEAP-3600 experiment
• Wavelength shifters for applications in liquid argon detectors
• The liquid-argon scintillation pulseshape in DEAP-3600
• Polyethylene naphthalate film as a wavelength shifter in liquid argon detectors
• Photoluminescence response of acrylic (PMMA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to ultraviolet light
• Performance of Hamamatsu VUV4 SiPMs for detecting liquid argon scintillation
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• Technique for Surface Background Rejection in Liquid Argon Dark Matter Detectors using Layered Wavelength-Shifting and Scintillating Thin Films
• Coating $\mu$m TPB on a cylindrical detector and studying the sample films being cooled to LN and LHe temperatures
• Exploration of Methods to Remove Implanted ${}^{210}$Pb and ${}^{210}$Po Contamination from Silicon Surfaces
• Demonstration of the light collection stability of a PEN-based wavelength shifting reflector in a tonne scale liquid argon detector