Xenon-Doped Liquid Argon TPCs as a Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Platform

Abstract

Searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay continue to expand our understanding of the lepton sector, with experiments now pursuing ton-scale target masses with sensitivity to $m_{\beta \beta }$ covering the allowed parameter space for the inverted neutrino mass ordering. Continued searches for this rare decay will require scalable detector technologies to achieve significant increases in the target mass beyond the ton scale, in order to probe the normal ordering region. This work explores the concept of searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in a 10 kton scale liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) located deep underground and doped with percent-level quantities of xenon. We discuss the design requirements, background mitigation and detector R&D needs, and considerations for deployment in a modified DUNE far detector module. We find that such a detector could reach $m_{\beta \beta }$ sensitivity at the 2-4 meV range with xenon doping at 2% if significant background reductions can be achieved.

arXiv comment12 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (35)

• A Unified Approach to the Classical Statistical Analysis of Small Signals
• Search for Majorana Neutrinos near the Inverted Mass Hierarchy Region with KamLAND-Zen
• Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay: Status and Prospects
• Phase space factors for double-$\beta$ decay
• Combined Analysis of all Three Phases of Solar Neutrino Data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
• Nuclear matrix elements for double-β decay
• Current Status and Future Prospects of the SNO+ Experiment
• Results from the first use of low radioactivity argon in a dark matter search
• Sensitivity and discovery potential of the proposed nEXO experiment to neutrinoless double beta decay
• An improved measurement of the 2νββ half-life of Xe-136 with EXO-200
• Correlated Fluctuations between Luminescence and Ionization in Liquid Xenon
• Discovery probability of next-generation neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay experiments
• DUNE as the Next-Generation Solar Neutrino Experiment
• Measurement of the specific activity of Ar-39 in natural argon
• First results on ProtoDUNE-SP liquid argon time projection chamber performance from a beam test at the CERN Neutrino Platform
• Improved Limits on Millicharged Particles Using the ArgoNeuT Experiment at Fermilab
• Noise Characterization and Filtering in the MicroBooNE Liquid Argon TPC
• Upper Bound of Neutrino Masses from Combined Cosmological Observations and Particle Physics Experiments
• Demonstration of MeV-Scale Physics in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers Using ArgoNeuT
• Understanding the energy resolution of liquid argon neutrino detectors
• Calibration of the charge and energy loss per unit length of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber using muons and protons
• Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay and the Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe
• Measurement of the muon decay spectrum with the ICARUS liquid Argon TPC
• Exciting Prospects for Detecting Late-Time Neutrinos from Core-Collapse Supernovae
• LArPix: Demonstration of low-power 3D pixelated charge readout for liquid argon time projection chambers
• Developing the MeV potential of DUNE: Detailed considerations of muon-induced spallation and other backgrounds
• A Review of Basic Energy Reconstruction Techniques in Liquid Xenon and Argon Detectors for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics Using NEST
• Probing Majorana neutrinos in the regime of the normal mass hierarchy
• Projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment to the $0\nu \beta \beta$ decay of ${}^{136}$Xe
• Calorimetry for low-energy electrons using charge and light in liquid argon
• The charged current neutrino cross section for solar neutrinos, and background to \BBz\ experiments
• Benefits of MeV-scale reconstruction capabilities in large liquid argon time projection chambers
• Kiloton-scale xenon detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay and other new physics searches
• Combined Constraints on Majorana Masses from Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Experiments
• Measurement of the neutron capture cross-section on argon

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Large Low Background kTon-Scale Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers
• The science and technology of liquid argon detectors
• Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector
• Enhanced feature encoding and classification on distributed quantum hardware
• Doping Liquid Argon with Xenon in ProtoDUNE Single-Phase: Effects on Scintillation Light
• Impact of extreme ultraviolet radiation on the scintillation of pure and xenon-doped liquid argon