Investigation of background electron emission in the LUX detector

Abstract

Dual-phase xenon detectors, as currently used in direct detection dark matter experiments, have observed elevated rates of background electron events in the low energy region. While this background negatively impacts detector performance in various ways, its origins have only been partially studied. In this paper we report a systematic investigation of the electron pathologies observed in the LUX dark matter experiment. We characterize different electron populations based on their emission intensities and their correlations with preceding energy depositions in the detector. By studying the background under different experimental conditions, we identified the leading emission mechanisms, including photoionization and the photoelectric effect induced by the xenon luminescence, delayed emission of electrons trapped under the liquid surface, capture and release of drifting electrons by impurities, and grid electron emission. We discuss how these backgrounds can be mitigated in LUX and future xenon-based dark matter experiments.

arXiv comment17 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (35)

• Results from a search for dark matter in the complete LUX exposure
• A search for light dark matter in XENON10 data
• Light Dark Matter Search with Ionization Signals in XENON1T
• First Direct Detection Limits on sub-GeV Dark Matter from XENON10
• Low-Mass Dark Matter Search with the DarkSide-50 Experiment
• New Constraints and Prospects for sub-GeV Dark Matter Scattering off Electrons in Xenon
• The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) Experiment
• Single-electron and single-photon sensitivity with a silicon Skipper CCD
• Observation and applications of single-electron charge signals in the XENON100 experiment
• Thermal detection of single e-h pairs in a biased silicon crystal detector
• Secondary Scintillation Yield in Pure Xenon
• Single electron emission in two-phase xenon with application to the detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering
• Auger neutralization and ionization processes for charge exchange between slow noble gas atoms and solid surfaces
• Measurement of single electron emission in two-phase xenon
• Measurement of the Drift Velocity and Transverse Diffusion of Electrons in Liquid Xenon with the EXO-200 Detector
• Signal yields, energy resolution, and recombination fluctuations in liquid xenon
• Two distinct components of the delayed single electron background signals in liquid xenon emission detectors
• Ultra-Low Energy Calibration of LUX Detector using ${}^{127}$Xe Electron Capture
• Calibration, event reconstruction, data analysis and limits calculation for the LUX dark matter experiment
• Electron extraction efficiency study for dual-phase xenon dark matter experiments
• LUXSim: A Component-Centric Approach to Low-Background Simulations
• Calibration of a two-phase xenon time projection chamber with a ${}^{37}$Ar source
• Results from a Calibration of XENON100 Using a Source of Dissolved Radon-220
• ${}^{83\text{m}}$Kr calibration of the 2013 LUX dark matter search
• Position Reconstruction in LUX
• First demonstration of a sub-keV electron recoil energy threshold in a liquid argon ionization chamber
• Extending light WIMP searches to single scintillation photons in LUX
• Anisotropic diffusion of electrons in liquid xenon with application to improving the sensitivity of direct dark matter searches
• Data Acquisition and Readout System for the LUX Dark Matter Experiment
• Study and mitigation of spurious electron emission from cathodic wires in noble liquid time projection chambers
• 3D Modeling of Electric Fields in the LUX Detector
• Measurement of light and charge yield of low-energy electronic recoils in liquid xenon
• High Voltage in Noble Liquids for High Energy Physics
• Extraction efficiency of drifting electrons in a two-phase xenon time projection chamber
• Development of Dual-phase Xenon TPC with a Quartz Chamber for Direct Dark Matter Search

Cited by in corpus (49)

• First Dark Matter Search Results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Dark Matter Search Results from 4.2 Tonne-Years of Exposure of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• A Next-Generation Liquid Xenon Observatory for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics
• Search for Coherent Elastic Scattering of Solar ${}^8$B Neutrinos in the XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment
• Emission of Single and Few Electrons in XENON1T and Limits on Light Dark Matter
• The XENONnT Dark Matter Experiment
• Sources of Low-Energy Events in Low-Threshold Dark Matter and Neutrino Detectors
• A Review of Basic Energy Reconstruction Techniques in Liquid Xenon and Argon Detectors for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics Using NEST
• A First Search for Solar ${}^8$B Neutrino in the PandaX-4T Experiment using Neutrino-Nucleus Coherent Scattering
• Simulations of Events for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment
• Direct Detection of Dark Matter -- APPEC Committee Report
• First Search for Light Dark Matter in the Neutrino Fog with XENONnT
• Search for inelastic scattering of WIMP dark matter in XENON1T
• Improving sensitivity to low-mass dark matter in LUX using a novel electrode background mitigation technique
• Search for Light Dark Matter in Low-Energy Ionization Signals from XENONnT
• New constraints on ultraheavy dark matter from the LZ experiment
• First Constraints on WIMP-Nucleon Effective Field Theory Couplings in an Extended Energy Region From LUX-ZEPLIN
• Correlated Single- and Few-Electron Backgrounds Milliseconds after Interactions in Dual-Phase Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chambers
• Reactor neutrino liquid xenon coherent elastic scattering experiment
• Constraints on Effective Field Theory Couplings Using 311.2 days of LUX Data
• The Phonon Background from Gamma Rays in Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detectors
• Low Energy Electronic Recoils and Single Electron Detection with a Liquid Xenon Proportional Scintillation Counter
• Electron transport measurements in liquid xenon with Xenoscope, a large-scale DARWIN demonstrator
• Exploring light dark matter with the Migdal effect in hydrogen-doped liquid xenon
• The Electric Field Dependence of Single Electron Emission in the PIXeY Two-Phase Xenon Detector
• Puzzling time properties of proportional electroluminescence in two-phase argon detectors for dark matter searches
• Detecting Low-Energy Interactions and the Effects of Energy Accumulation in Materials
• Waveform Simulation in PandaX-4T
• Development and Performance of a Sealed Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chamber
• Feasibility Study to use Neutron Capture for an Ultra-low Energy Nuclear-recoil Calibration in Liquid Xenon
• A machine learning-based methodology for pulse classification in dual-phase xenon time projection chambers
• Calibrating the scintillation and ionization responses of xenon recoils for high-energy dark matter searches
• Nuclear Recoil Calibration at Sub-keV Energies in LUX and Its Impact on Dark Matter Search Sensitivity
• Feasibility of Liquid-phase Xenon Proportional Scintillation for Low-energy Physics
• Unraveling the puzzle of slow components in gaseous argon of two-phase detectors for dark matter searches using Thick Gas Electron Multiplier
• Design Challenges for a Future Liquid Xenon Observatory
• Data reduction strategy in the PandaX-4T experiment
• Calibration and characterization of the RED-100 detector at the Kalinin nuclear power plant
• Impact of extreme ultraviolet radiation on the scintillation of pure and xenon-doped liquid argon
• Design and production of the high voltage electrode grids and electron extraction region for the LZ dual-phase xenon time projection chamber
• Design and characterization of a photosensor system for the RELICS experiment
• Light Dark Matter Search with 7.8 Tonne-Year of Ionization-Only Data in XENONnT
• Electron transfer efficiency in liquid xenon across THGEM holes
• Snowmass Instrumentation Frontier IF08 Topical Group Report: Noble Element Detectors
• Measurement of the Quantum Efficiency of Electrode Materials for VUV Photons in Liquid Xenon
• Quartz fluorescence backgrounds in xenon particle detectors
• Modeling the Differential Rate for Signal Interactions in Coincidence with Noise Fluctuations or Large Rate Backgrounds
• Simulation results for a low energy nuclear recoil yields measurement in liquid xenon using the MiX detector
• What surfaces in the operation of noble liquids dark matter detectors