Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit

C. A. O. Henriques; C. M. B. Monteiro; D. Gonzalez-Diaz; C. D. R. Azevedo; E. D. C. Freitas; R. D. P. Mano; M. R. Jorge; A. F. M. Fernandes; J. J. Gomez-Cadenas; L. M. P. Fernandes; C. Adams; V. Alvarez; L. Arazi; K. Bailey; F. Ballester; J. M. Benlloch-Rodriguez; F. I. G. M. Borges; A. Botas; S. Carcel; J. V. Carrion; S. Cebrian; C. A. N. Conde; J. Diaz; M. Diesburg; J. Escada; R. Esteve; R. Felkai; P. Ferrario; A. L. Ferreira; J. Generowicz; A. Goldschmidt; R. Guenette; R. M. Gutierrez; K. Hafidi; J. Hauptman; A. I. Hernandez; J. A. Hernando Morata; V. Herrero; S. Johnston; B. J. P. Jones; M. Kekic; L. Labarga; A. Laing; P. Lebrun; N. Lopez-March; M. Losada; J. Martin-Albo; A. Martinez; G. Martinez-Lema; A. McDonald; F. Monrabal; F. J. Mora; J. Munoz Vidal; M. Musti; M. Nebot-Guinot; P. Novella; D. R. Nygren; B. Palmeiro; A. Para; J. Perez; F. Psihas; M. Querol; J. Renner; J. Repond; S. Riordan; L. Ripoll; J. Rodriguez; L. Rogers; C. Romo-Luque; F. P. Santos; J. M. F. dos Santos; A. Simon; C. Sofka; M. Sorel; T. Stiegler; J. F. Toledo; J. Torrent; J. F. C. A. Veloso; R. Webb; J. T. White; N. Yahlali; NEXT collaboration

doi:10.1007/JHEP01(2019)027

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Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit

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Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit

C. A. O. Henriques, C. M. B. Monteiro, D. Gonzalez-Diaz, C. D. R. Azevedo, E. D. C. Freitas, R. D. P. Mano, M. R. Jorge, A. F. M. Fernandes, J. J. Gomez-Cadenas, L. M. P. Fernandes, …

The journal of high energy physics, Vol.2019(1), pp.1-23

01/01/2019

DOI: 10.1007/JHEP01(2019)027

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Abstract

The NEXT experiment aims at searching for the hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta decay from the Xe-136 isotope using a high-purity xenon TPC. Efficient discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionisation tracks is a major requirement for the experiment. However, it is limited by the diffusion of electrons. It is known that the addition of a small fraction of a molecular gas to xenon reduces electron diffusion. On the other hand, the electroluminescence (EL) yield drops and the achievable energy resolution may be compromised. We have studied the effect of adding several molecular gases to xenon (CO2, CH4 and CF4) on the EL yield and energy resolution obtained in a small prototype of driftless gas proportional scintillation counter. We have compared our results on the scintillation characteristics (EL yield and energy resolution) with a microscopic simulation, obtaining the diffusion coefficients in those conditions as well. Accordingly, electron diffusion may be reduced from about 10 for pure xenon down to 2.5 using additive concentrations of about 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.02% for CO2, CH4 and CF4, respectively. Our results show that CF4 admixtures present the highest EL yield in those conditions, but very poor energy resolution as a result of huge fluctuations observed in the EL formation. CH4 presents the best energy resolution despite the EL yield being the lowest. The results obtained with xenon admixtures are extrapolated to the operational conditions of the NEXT-100 TPC. CO2 and CH4 show potential as molecular additives in a large xenon TPC. While CO2 has some operational constraints, making it difficult to be used in a large TPC, CH4 shows the best performance and stability as molecular additive to be used in the NEXT-100 TPC, with an extrapolated energy resolution of 0.4% at 2.45 MeV for concentrations below 0.4%, which is only slightly worse than the one obtained for pure xenon. We demonstrate the possibility to have an electroluminescence TPC operating very close to the thermal diffusion limit without jeopardizing the TPC performance, if CO2 or CH4 are chosen as additives.

Physical Sciences

Physics

Physics, Particles & Fields

Science & Technology

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Title: Subtitle: Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit
Creators: C. A. O. Henriques - University of Coimbra
C. M. B. Monteiro - University of Coimbra
D. Gonzalez-Diaz - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
C. D. R. Azevedo - University of Aveiro
E. D. C. Freitas - University of Coimbra
R. D. P. Mano - University of Coimbra
M. R. Jorge - University of Coimbra
A. F. M. Fernandes - University of Coimbra
J. J. Gomez-Cadenas - DIPC, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, E-20018 Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
L. M. P. Fernandes - University of Coimbra
C. Adams - Harvard University
V. Alvarez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
L. Arazi - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
K. Bailey - Argonne Natl Lab, 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 USA
F. Ballester - Universitat Politècnica de València
J. M. Benlloch-Rodriguez - Universitat de València
F. I. G. M. Borges - University of Coimbra
A. Botas - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
S. Carcel - Universitat de València
J. V. Carrion - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
S. Cebrian - Univ Zaragoza, Lab Fis Nucl & Astropart, Calle Pedro Cerbuna 12, E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
C. A. N. Conde - University of Coimbra
J. Diaz - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Diesburg - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Escada - University of Coimbra
R. Esteve - Universitat Politècnica de València
R. Felkai - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
P. Ferrario - DIPC, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, E-20018 Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
A. L. Ferreira - University of Aveiro
J. Generowicz - DIPC, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, E-20018 Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
A. Goldschmidt - Cyclotron (Netherlands)
R. Guenette - Harvard University
R. M. Gutierrez - Univ Antonio Narino, Ctr Invest Ciencias Basicas & Aplicadas, Carretera 3 Este 47 A-15, Bogota, Colombia
K. Hafidi - Argonne Natl Lab, 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 USA
J. Hauptman - Iowa State University
A. I. Hernandez - Univ Antonio Narino, Ctr Invest Ciencias Basicas & Aplicadas, Carretera 3 Este 47 A-15, Bogota, Colombia
J. A. Hernando Morata - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
V. Herrero - Universitat Politècnica de València
S. Johnston - Argonne Natl Lab, 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 USA
B. J. P. Jones - Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Phys, POB 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 USA
M. Kekic - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
L. Labarga - Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Fis Teor, Campus Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
A. Laing - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
P. Lebrun - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
N. Lopez-March - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Losada - Univ Antonio Narino, Ctr Invest Ciencias Basicas & Aplicadas, Carretera 3 Este 47 A-15, Bogota, Colombia
J. Martin-Albo - Harvard University
A. Martinez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
G. Martinez-Lema - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
A. McDonald - Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Phys, POB 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 USA
F. Monrabal - DIPC, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, E-20018 Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
F. J. Mora - Universitat Politècnica de València
J. Munoz Vidal - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Musti - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Nebot-Guinot - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
P. Novella - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
D. R. Nygren - Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Phys, POB 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 USA
B. Palmeiro - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
A. Para - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Perez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
F. Psihas - Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Phys, POB 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 USA
M. Querol - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
J. Renner - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
J. Repond - Argonne Natl Lab, 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 USA
S. Riordan - Argonne Natl Lab, 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 USA
L. Ripoll - Universitat de Girona
J. Rodriguez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
L. Rogers - Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Phys, POB 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 USA
C. Romo-Luque - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
F. P. Santos - University of Coimbra
J. M. F. dos Santos - University of Coimbra
A. Simon - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
C. Sofka - Texas A&M Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
M. Sorel - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
T. Stiegler - Texas A&M Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
J. F. Toledo - Universitat Politècnica de València
J. Torrent - DIPC, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, E-20018 Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
J. F. C. A. Veloso - University of Aveiro
R. Webb - Texas A&M Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
J. T. White - Texas A&M Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
N. Yahlali - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
NEXT collaboration
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The journal of high energy physics, Vol.2019(1), pp.1-23
DOI: 10.1007/JHEP01(2019)027
ISSN: 1029-8479
eISSN: 1029-8479
Publisher: Springer Nature
Number of pages: 23
Grant note: 339787-NEXT / European Research Council (ERC); Spanish Government 674896; 690575; 740055 / European Union; European Union (EU) PTDC/FIS-NUC/2525/2014; UID/FIS/04559/2013; PD/BD/105921/2014; SFRH/BPD/109180/2015; SFRH/BPD/76842/2011 / Portuguese FCT; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) PROMETEO/2016/120; SEJI/2017/011 / GVA of Spain DE-AC02-07CH11359; DE-FG02-13ER42020; DE-SC0017721; DE-AC02-06CH11357 / U.S. Department of Energy; United States Department of Energy (DOE) University of Texas at Arlington FIS2014-53371-C04; SEV-2014-0398; MDM-2016-0692 / Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain; Spanish Government PD/BD/105921/2014; PTDC/FIS-NUC/2525/2014 / Fundao para a Cincia e a Tecnologia; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) RYC-2015-18820 / Ramon y Cajal program (Spain); Spanish Government
Language: English
Date published: 01/01/2019
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984627211402771

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