The cosmological Dark Matter particle remains as elusive as ever. Experiments looking for signals from direct interactions of galactic Dark Matter particles in detector targets have so far ruled out only a small number of theoretical possibilities within the vast parameter space Dark Matter could be found in. To probe unexplored regions in parameter space for signs of these particles, we...
Noble gases, like Xr or Ar in their liquid or gaseous phase, are becoming increasingly common in experimental programs searching for physics beyond the standard model. This includes the searches for the neutrino-less double beta decay. Noble gases may be used either as targets or can also serve as passive and/or active shields. In the first case one can use as an example the Xe-based detectors...
The understanding of neutrino physics has made impressive advances in the last two decades thanks to the development of detectors for studying the phenomenon of oscillation. Next generation of experiments will perform precision measurements of the oscillation parameters, measure the mass hierarchy, the CP violation phase, and assess the possible existence of a fourth neutrino flavor. Noble...
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a dark matter detector centred on a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Results from LZ’s first search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with an exposure of 60 live days using a fiducial mass of 5.5 tonnes were recently published. A profile-likelihood...
The XENONnT experiment is a dark matter detector centered on a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. XENONnT has achieved unprecedented purity both for electronegative contaminants, with an electron lifetime exceeding 10 ms, and for radioactive 222Rn, with an activity of 1.72±0.03 𝜇Bq/kg. This talk will give an overview and the...
DarkSide-50 is a direct WIMP dark matter detection experiment at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) that uses argon as the target material. Exploiting the ionization signal from a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC) filled with low radioactivity argon from an underground source, it has set the strongest limit against WIMP with a mass in the GeV/c2 region. A new analysis has...
DEAP-3600 is the largest running dark matter detector filled with liquid argon, set at SNOLAB, in Sudbury, Canada, 2 km underground. The experiment holds the most stringent exclusion limit in argon for WIMPs above 10 GeV/c^2. In the published analysis the background events due to alpha-inducing scintillation in the neck of the detector limited the sensitivity. Both the hardware upgrades and...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a dual-site experiment for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, able to resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy and measure $\delta_{CP}$.
DUNE will also have sensitivity to supernova neutrinos and to processes beyond the Standard Model, such as nucleon decay searches.
The Far Detector (FD) will consist of four liquid argon TPC...
Novel electron & photon sensing concepts of single-phase noble-liquid detectors
Amos Breskin
Dept. of Astrophysics & Particle Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
Abstract
Some novel ideas of ionization-electron and scintillation-photon sensing concepts in single-phase noble-liquid detectors are presented. They rely on immersed micro-structured...
The bubble-free Liquid Hole-Multiplier (bf-LHM) has been proposed as a novel sensor for recording both scintillation- and electroluminescence-photons in dual-phase detectors. The new concept follows that of the bubble-assisted one investigated over the past years.
In this contribution, we will discuss the progress made with this new, simpler concept – in which the gas bubble is replaced by...
We describe a novel concept for dual-phase noble liquid detectors, the Floating Hole Multiplier (FHM). It consists of a perforated electrode freely floating on the surface of the liquid. The concept has been validated with a Thick Gas Electron Multiplier (THGEM) on the surface of liquid xenon. First experimental results will be reported showing that the electrons, liberated in liquid xenon due...
Large scintillation gaps are desirable for electroluminescence chambers with ultimate energy resolution and single-electron counting characteristics, whereas large-area amplification structures are needed for next-generation ton-scale experiments. We present systematic studies of a custom designed structure (Field-Assisted Transparent Gas Electroluminescence Multiplier, or FAT-GEM), consisting...
Between its first and second WIMP-search runs (Run03 and Run04) the LUX (Large Underground Xenon) detector at SURF (Sanford Underground Research Facility) observed a ~15% sharp drop in its primary scintillation detection efficiency (g1), with an O(5%) further slow drop over the course of the 300+ live-days of Run04. Different possibilities for the cause(s) will be reviewed, including “natural”...
The MicroBooNE experiment is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) placed along Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab. Its primary physics goal is to contribute to addressing the elusive short-baseline MiniBooNE low energy excess. MicroBooNE records and utilises both the ionisation charge and scintillation light produced inside the TPC to select and reconstruct its events. The...
Mass spectrometry is typically used to measure U and Th contamination of the materials used to build a low-background detector. However, this technique has the potential to provide essential information about the purity of the gas used by argon-based rare event research experiments. The CIEMAT-DM group has shown that, by ICPMS, it is possible to identify and quantify contaminants in the argon,...
The photon detection system of the DUNE experiment is based on the X-ARAPUCA light trap. The basic constituents of the X-ARAPUCA are: dichroic filters coated with wavelength shifter (para-Therphenyl), a waveshifting plate and an array of SiPMs which detects the trapped photons. A small scale prototype of the X-ARAPUCA has been installed in LAr in a dedicated facility at INFN-Napoli and exposed...
A large positive volume charge can distort the drift field and quench the charge signal in a massive argon time projection chamber, thus the study of the dynamics of the positive ions created by particle interactions in liquid argon is essential for the characterization of the new generation of experiments planned for the dark matter direct search and neutrino physics. We have constructed a 1...
Abstract.
Dual-phase noble liquid time-projection chambers have a long application history in searches for rare low-energy events like interactions with dark matter particles. Because of scalability and existing support infrastructure, they are expected to serve in large future projects. Our analysis of data and models for electrons and ions extraction from the liquid into the gas phase and...
It has been known that noble elements, when excited by ionizing radiation, emit light not only in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region but also at longer wavelengths, up to the near-infrared (NIR). Many questions remain on the exact nature of this scintillation both in terms of its atomic/molecular origin as well as its full characterization as regards the light yield, spectral and time...
We present a model for the ionization efficiency, or quenching factor, for low energy nuclear recoils based on a solution to Lindhard's integral equation with binding energy and apply it to the calculation of the relative scintillation efficiency and charge yield for noble liquid detectors. The quenching model incorporates a constant average binding energy together with an electronic stopping...
Liquid xenon-based direct detection dark matter experiments have recently expanded their searches to include high-energy nuclear recoil events as motivated by effective field theory dark matter and inelastic dark matter interaction models, but few xenon recoil calibrations above 100 keV are currently available. In this presentation, we show our measurements of the scintillation and ionization...
To increase sensitivity of liquid xenon (LXe) experiments to light WIMPs, the response of the LXe medium to sub-keV nuclear recoils must be characterized. We study the feasibility for an ultra-low energy nuclear-recoil yield measurement in LXe using neutron capture. The measurement strategy uses the recoil energies imparted to xenon nuclei during the de-excitation process following neutron...
Bubble chambers using liquid xenon (and liquid argon) have been operated (resp. planned) by the Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) collaboration for GeV-scale dark matter searches and CEvNS from reactors. This requires a robust calibration program of the nucleation efficiency of low-energy nuclear recoils in these target media. Such experiments were performed with a liquid xenon test chamber,...
In direct dark matter experiments using liquid xenon (Xe), scintillation and ionization signals are produced by an interaction between Xe and dark matter. A scintillation photon can produce an electron through photoelectric effect on electrodes, which is one of the major backgrounds for low-mass dark matter searches. For future direct dark matter experiments using liquid Xe, we are developing...
A metalens is an emerging type of flat optical metamaterial that presents several advantages over a traditional lens, such as reduced cost and reduced bulkiness. We developed a set of software tools and fabrication procedures for the rapid development and characterization of new metalens designs. A large field-of-view centimeter-scale metalens was fabricated, and its performance compared with...
Many photodetection systems of liquid noble experiments are comprised of an external wavelength shifter film, deposited over an optical element. Although this technique has many advantages, the expose external wavelength shifter is delicate and is subjected to problems, for instance, cross-contamination, mechanical and chemical stresses, and photobleaching. To help with these drawbacks, our...
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are the photo-detection technology of choice for future noble-liquid scintillator rare-event search experiments, both in neutrino-less double beta decay and dark matter. The high radio-purity and exceptional gain of SiPMs along with a high VUV detection efficiency make them ideal for these applications. The Light only Liquid Xenon (LoLX) experiment is a...
Silicon based photo-detectors are innovative light collecting devices and represent a successful technology in the field of direct dark matter search detectors based on liquified noble gases.
The DarkSide collaboration started a dedicated development and customization of SiPM technology for its specific needs resulting in the design, production and assembly of a large surface module of 20x20...
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are emerging as the photodetector technology to be used in upcoming noble liquid experiments. Newly developed SiPMs sensitive to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light will be directly used for the readout of scintillation photons (λ = 175nm) from liquid xenon in future tonne-scale experiments such as nEXO searching for neutrinoless double beta decay in 136Xe. In this...
Projective readout technologies currently used in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers come with a set of challenges from the construction of the wire planes themselves to the continuous readout of the system required to accomplish the physics goals of proton decay searches and supernova neutrino sensitivity. Additionally, the reconstruction techniques required for these projective readouts...
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are used to collect scintillation photons in many cryogenic noble liquid detectors deployed around the world, such as DarkSide, nEXO, MEGII, ProtoDUNE and DUNE. An event burst phenomenon was observed during routine characterization on many models of SiPMs operated in liquid nitrogen. These bursts of consecutive pulses are initiated by an intense dark...
The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double Beta (0vbb) Decay (LEGEND) is designed to answer one of the highest priority questions in fundamental physics: is the neutrino Majorana or Dirac particle, is the lepton number conserved, and what is the neutrino mass ?
In the first phase of the project the LEGEND-200 detector is under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali...
NEXT is an experimental program aimed at the detection of neutrinoless double beta (ββ0ν) decay in 136Xe. The collaboration has recently concluded the operation of NEXT-White: a 50-cm diameter and length TPC holding Xe at 10 bar. The experiment, hosted at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc, under the Spanish Pyrenees, has demonstrated the two key features of the NEXT technology: an...
PETALO (Positron Emission TOF Apparatus with Liquid xenOn) is a new technique that uses liquid xenon (LXe) together with a SiPM-based readout and fast electronics to provide a significant improvement in PET-TOF technology. Liquid xenon allows to build a continuous detector with a high stopping power for 511-keV gammas and provides a uniform response avoiding most of the geometrical distortions...
This project is based on the emerging technology from the field of direct dark matter searches for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), in which Liquid Argon (LAr) time projection chambers are used to identify different particle interactions for WIMP detection. The Darkside Collaboration has demonstrated the true power of the advancing LAr detector technology. They are also making...
The SBN program consists of three surface liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPC) detectors on the Booster Neutrino Beam line at Fermilab, devoted to probe neutrino oscillations at the $\sim 1\mathrm{ eV}^2$ scale. SBND is the near detector, located at 110 m from the source, with a mass of 112 tons. Because of the inherent long readout times of LArTPCs and the lack of shielding, cosmic...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be an experiment in
neutrino physics and proton decay studies. DUNE will consist of two parts, The
Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, located at the Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, and the Far Detector at Sanford Underground Research Facility, the latter
consists of liquid argon tanks used as scintillators for neutrino detection....
DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) is a proposed long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment located in the United States. The main physics objectives of DUNE are to characterize neutrino oscillations, search for nucleon decay, and observe supernova neutrino bursts. The DUNE far detector will be located 4850' underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South...
The functionality and radiopurity of SiPM-based photodetectors with integrated electronics, which will meet the demanding requirements for radio pure detectors looking for dark matter. ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) readout electronics have the potential to replace discrete electronic components and to reduce the radioactivity of photo sensor frontend electronics. For future...
The DARWIN observatory is a proposed next generation
experiment for dark matter detection and neutrino physics. DARWIN will
feature a 50 tonne liquid xenon (LXe) target enclosed in a dual phase
time projection chamber. The realisation of this multi-ton scale
detector requires to address a series of technological challenges, to
this end, a full scale vertical demonstrator, Xenoscope, was...
Detectors for direct dark matter search using noble gases in liquid phases as detection medium need to be coupled to liquifying, purifying and recirculation systems.
In the framework of the DarkSide experiment the Proto-0 system, a double phase liquid Argon TPC as reduced scale prototype version of the DarkSide-20k detector, has been built with the aim of the study of the position of the...
The current landscape for the hunt of particle Dark Matter (DM) requires us to achieve state of the art ability to mitigate and account for the various backgrounds. DarkSide-20k, a 20-tonn scale double phase TPC, will commission its voyage for the DM with an exclusion sensitivity to spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interaction of $6.3 \times 10^{-48}$ cm$^2$ (90% C.L.) @ 1 TeV/c$^2$ with a 200 t...
Doping liquid argon with small ( < 0.1% ) concentrations of xenon improves its performance as a detection medium by shifting primary scintillation light to longer wavelengths. At high doping levels, the concentration of xenon in the gas phase is sufficient to modify the electroluminescence chemistry analogously to that of the primary scintillation. However, conventional cryostat and...
Over the past several decades, the dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) has risen to the forefront of the race to directly detect dark matter (DM). The technology utilizes photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), or other light detection devices, to readout scintillation produced promptly after a particle scatters in the liquid and electroluminescence generated when electrons freed by the...
In the LEGEND experiment, approximately 90 tons (65 $m^3$) of liquid argon (LAr) serve as a cooling medium for the germanium detectors and as an instrumented shielding. To achieve optimal performance of the liquid argon detector system, the LAr was purified by a dedicated system during the cryostat's initial filling. The LEGEND LAr purification System (LLArS) performance was studied and...
CCM is a 10 ton liquid argon scintillation detector located at Los Alamos National Lab. The prototype detector CCM120 was fabricated in 2017, which utilized 120 PMTs, and now the upgraded detector CCM200, with 200 PMTs, has collected data in the 2021 run cycle. The physics program of CCM comprises searches for new particles in the weak sector, including Dark Photons, Axion-like Particles...
The nature of Dark Matter is one of the most urgent unsolved questions of modern physics. The DARWIN observatory is a future experiment to search directly for Dark Matter and to shine light on its properties. DARWIN will consist of a dual-phase time-projection chamber with 40 tons of liquid xenon in its active volume and will be surrounded by external veto detectors for background suppression....
As conventional liquid noble experiments push towards lower energy thresholds, separation between electron and nuclear recoils becomes increasingly difficult. The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) Collaboration is combining the well-established bubble chamber and liquid argon scintillator technologies, building a detector specifically suited to quasi-background-free measurement of low energy...
SBND is the near detector of the Short Baseline Neutrino program at Fermilab. Its near location (110 m) to the neutrino source and relatively large mass (112 ton active volume) will allow studying neutrino interactions on argon with unprecedented precision.
This talk focuses on the SBND Photon Detection System. It represents a major R&D opportunity for the LArTPC technology. Its design is a...
The DARWIN project aims to build and operate a next-generation observatory for dark matter and neutrino physics, featuring a time projection chamber (TPC) with a proposed active target of 40 t of liquid xenon (LXe). As an R&D facility to test fundamental components of the future detector, Xenoscope, a full-scale vertical demonstrator with 350 kg of LXe and up to 2.6 m electron drift length was...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be using a liquid argon time projection chamber (LAr TPC) with optically separated modules in the Near Detector (ND) complex. A prototype experiment for these modules, DUNE ND-LAr 2x2, is currently commissioning and constructing four test modules. These modules detect ionization charge through a pixel-based readout and scintillation light...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is be a massive long baseline (1300 km) neutrino experiment that aims to shade light on some of the major open questions in neutrino physics. The neutrino beam measurements will be performed by a near detector (ND) and far detector (FD). The far detector will consist of four modules, installed 1,5 km deep underground, based Liquid Argon Time...
We will report the latest development of NEST, a comprehensive simulation package for noble liquid experiments. It has achieved increasingly accurate predictions of energy spectrum and discrimination between electronic and nuclear recoils for a large range of drift fields in liquid xenon and is used by leading dark matter experiments such as LZ and XENONnT. Opportunities to use this software...
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector is a 10-ton liquid xenon dual-phase time projection chamber operating at the SURF laboratory (South Dakota, USA). As reported in June 2022, after 60 live days of the search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), LZ demonstrates a world record sensitivity to spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interactions for WIMP masses above 9 GeV [1]. Given its large target...
The MicroBooNE detector is an 85-ton active mass Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) located on-axis along the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). It serves as a part of the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab, which was primarily designed to address the Miniboone low-energy excess. The primary signal in the LArTPC is ionisation, but the argon also emits large quantities of...
Pulse Shape Discrimination is a powerful tool to distinguish WIMP signals from electronic recoil background in liquid Argon detectors.
In order to accurately evaluate the expected rate of background events with uncertainty, a robust background model that can be tuned to the detector data and reliably extrapolated orders of magnitude beyond the available background statistics, is needed. We...
Supernova neutrinos produced during a core-collapse of a massive star, carries 99% of the energy produced during the violent phenomenon. These neutrinos are weakly interacting massive particles, and can provide useful information for both particle physics (neutrino oscillations parameters ) and astrophysics (explosion mechanism) that can be used to explore physics beyond the standard model....
