Low-threshold response of a scintillating xenon bubble chamber to nuclear and electronic recoils

Abstract

A device filled with pure xenon first demonstrated the ability to operate simultaneously as a bubble chamber and scintillation detector in 2017. Initial results from data taken at thermodynamic thresholds down to ~4 keV showed sensitivity to ~20 keV nuclear recoils with no observable bubble nucleation by $\gamma$-ray interactions. This paper presents results from further operation of the same device at thermodynamic thresholds as low as 0.50 keV, hardware limited. The bubble chamber has now been shown to have sensitivity to ~1 keV nuclear recoils while remaining insensitive to bubble nucleation by $\gamma$-rays. A robust calibration of the chamber's nuclear recoil nucleation response, as a function of nuclear recoil energy and thermodynamic state, is presented. Stringent upper limits are established for the probability of bubble nucleation by $\gamma$-ray-induced Auger cascades, with a limit of $<1.1\times 10^{-6}$ set at 0.50 keV, the lowest thermodynamic threshold explored.

arXiv comment11 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (21)

• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• A Unified Approach to the Classical Statistical Analysis of Small Signals
• First dark matter search results from a 4-kg CF${}_3$I bubble chamber operated in a deep underground site
• Dark Matter Search Results from the Complete Exposure of the PICO-60 C${}_3$F${}_8$ Bubble Chamber
• NEST: A Comprehensive Model for Scintillation Yield in Liquid Xenon
• Improved Spin-Dependent WIMP Limits from a Bubble Chamber
• Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 CF${}_3$I Bubble Chamber
• Final Results of the PICASSO Dark Matter Search Experiment
• The SIMPLE Phase II Dark Matter Search
• New Insights into Particle Detection with Superheated Liquids
• Applications of an Y-88/Be photo-neutron calibration source to Dark Matter and Neutrino Experiments
• First Demonstration of a Scintillating Xenon Bubble Chamber for Detecting Dark Matter and Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering
• Physics reach of a low threshold scintillating argon bubble chamber in coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering reactor experiments
• Direct Measurement of the Bubble Nucleation Energy Threshold in a CF3I Bubble Chamber
• Data-Driven Modeling of Electron Recoil Nucleation in PICO C${}_3$F${}_8$ Bubble Chambers
• A reanalysis of radioisotope measurements of the ${}^9$Be$(\gamma ,n{)}^8$Be cross-section
• A buffer-free concept bubble chamber for PICO dark matter searches
• Determining the bubble nucleation efficiency of low-energy nuclear recoils in superheated C${}_3$F${}_8$ dark matter detectors
• Molecular dynamics simulations of bubble nucleation in dark matter detectors
• Model for bubble nucleation efficiency of low-energy nuclear recoils in bubble chambers for dark matter detection
• A direct test of Auger cascade induced nucleation from heavy element contamination in C${}_3$F${}_8$ bubble chambers