Ionisation quenching factors from W-values in pure gases for rare event searches

Abstract

The effect of ionisation quenching for ions is critical for experiments relying on the measurement of low energy recoils, such as direct Dark Matter searches. We present ionisation quenching factor estimates over a range of energies for protons, $\alpha$-particles, and heavier ions in H${}_2$, CH${}_4$, N${}_2$, Ar, CO${}_2$, and C${}_3$H${}_8$ gases, estimated from the respective reference W-value measurements. The resulting ionisation quenching factors are compared with predictions from SRIM.

This work was performed in the context of the NEWS-G experiment. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no 841261 (DarkSphere)

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Fuelling the search for light dark matter-electron scattering with spherical proportional counters
• Search for Light Dark Matter with NEWS-G at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane Using a Methane Target
• Ionization quenching factors and W-values of low-energy H${}_2^{+}$ and He${}^{+}$ ions in Ar gas at low pressure measured with a bulk resistive MICROMEGAS
• The ionization yield in a methane-filled spherical proportional counter