Characterization of alpha and beta interactions in liquid xenon

Abstract

Liquid xenon based detectors have achieved great sensitivities in rare event searches. Precise knowledge of the scintillation and ionization responses of the medium is essential to correctly model different interaction types in the detector including both signal and background-like ones. The response of liquid xenon to low energy electrons and to alpha particles has been studied in the Heidelberg Xenon (HeXe) dual-phase xenon TPC. We determine the light and charge signal yields for keV-energy electrons and MeV-energy alpha particles as well as the electron drift velocity for electric drift fields between 7.5 and 1640 V/cm. A three dimensional simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics(R) is used to characterize the applied drift field and its homogeneity.

arXiv comment16 pages, 21 figures. Associated data is available under https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5525214

References in corpus (23)

• Dark matter direct-detection experiments
• The XENON100 Dark Matter Experiment
• NEST: A Comprehensive Model for Scintillation Yield in Liquid Xenon
• Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with the Upgraded EXO-200 Detector
• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Simultaneous Measurement of Ionization and Scintillation from Nuclear Recoils in Liquid Xenon as Target for a Dark Matter Experiment
• Observation of Anti-correlation between Scintillation and Ionization for MeV Gamma-Rays in Liquid Xenon
• XENON1T Dark Matter Data Analysis: Signal & Background Models, and Statistical Inference
• Spatially uniform calibration of a liquid xenon detector at low energies using 83m-Kr
• Analysis of the XENON100 Dark Matter Search Data
• Qualification Tests of the R11410-21 Photomultiplier Tubes for the XENON1T Detector
• Measurement of the Drift Velocity and Transverse Diffusion of Electrons in Liquid Xenon with the EXO-200 Detector
• Model Independent Approach to the Single Photoelectron Calibration of Photomultiplier Tubes
• Response of liquid xenon to Compton electrons down to 1.5 keV
• Measurement of the scintillation and ionization response of liquid xenon at MeV energies in the EXO-200 experiment
• Field dependence of electronic recoil signals in a dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber
• Radon depletion in xenon boil-off gas
• Measurements of electron transport in liquid and gas Xenon using a laser-driven photocathode
• Radon daughter removal from PTFE surfaces and its application in liquid xenon detectors
• A Dual-phase Xenon TPC for Scintillation and Ionisation Yield Measurements in Liquid Xenon
• High Resolution Gamma Ray Detection in a Dual Phase Xenon Time Projection Chamber
• Transmission of xenon scintillation light through PTFE
• Analysis of ${}^{83m}$Kr Prompt Scintillation Signals in the PIXeY Detector

Cited by in corpus (10)

• First Dark Matter Search with Nuclear Recoils from the XENONnT Experiment
• Search for New Physics in Electronic Recoil Data from XENONnT
• Electron transport measurements in liquid xenon with Xenoscope, a large-scale DARWIN demonstrator
• Design and performance of the field cage for the XENONnT experiment
• The XeBRA platform for liquid xenon time projection chamber development
• First time-resolved measurement of infrared scintillation light in gaseous xenon
• First measurement of discrimination between helium and electron recoils in liquid xenon for low-mass dark matter searches
• Design, characterization and installation of the NEXT-100 cathode and electroluminescence regions
• Scintillation decay-time constants for alpha particles and electrons in liquid xenon
• Operation of a dual-phase xenon detector with wavelength sensitivity from ultraviolet to infrared