Recent Advances in Bubble-Assisted Liquid Hole Multipliers in Liquid Xenon

Abstract

We report on recent advances in the operation of bubble-assisted Liquid Hole Multipliers (LHM). By confining a vapor bubble under or adjacent to a perforated electrode immersed in liquid xenon, we could record both radiation-induced ionization electrons and primary scintillation photons in the noble liquid. Four types of LHM electrodes were investigated: a THGEM, standard double-conical GEM, 50 $\mu$m-thick single-conical GEM (SC-GEM) and 125 $\mu$m-thick SC-GEM - all coated with CsI photocathodes. The 125 $\mu$m-thick SC-GEM provided the highest electroluminescence (EL) yields, up to ~400 photons per electron over 4$\pi$ with an RMS pulse-height resolution reaching 5.5% for events comprising ~7000 primary electrons. Applying a high transfer field across the bubble, the EL yield was further increased by a factor of ~5. The feasibility of a vertical-mode LHM, with the bubble confined between two vertical electrodes, and the operation of a two-stage LHM configuration were demonstrated for the first time. We combine electrostatic simulations with observed signals to draw conclusions regarding the location of the liquid-gas interface and suggest an explanation for the observed differences in EL yield between the investigated electrodes.

27 pages, 22 figures. Submitted to JINST

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• The Thick Gas Electron Multiplier and its derivatives: physics, technologies and applications
• First demonstration of a bubble-assisted Liquid Hole Multiplier operation in liquid argon
• First Imaging Results of a Bubble-assisted Liquid Hole Multiplier with SiPM readout in Liquid Xenon
• Novel electron and photon recording concepts in noble-liquid detectors
• Bubble-assisted Liquid Hole Multipliers in LXe and LAr: towards "local dual-phase TPCs"
• First observation of liquid xenon electroluminescence with a Microstrip Plate
• First results on FHM -- a Floating Hole Multiplier
• Electron transfer efficiency in liquid xenon across THGEM holes
• Bubble dynamics in Liquid Hole Multipliers