Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled

C. A. O. Henriques; P. Amedo; J. M. R. Teixeira; D. González-Díaz; C. D. R. Azevedo; A. Para; J. Martín-Albo; A. Saa Hernandez; J. J. Gómez-Cadenas; D. R. Nygren; C. M. B. Monteiro; C. Adams; V. Álvarez; L. Arazi; I. J. Arnquist; K. Bailey; F. Ballester; J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez; F. I. G. M. Borges; N. Byrnes; S. Cárcel; J. V. Carrión; S. Cebrián; E. Church; C. A. N. Conde; T. Contreras; G. Díaz; J. Díaz; M. Diesburg; J. Escada; R. Esteve; R. Felkai; A. F. M. Fernandes; L. M. P. Fernandes; P. Ferrario; A. L. Ferreira; E. D. C. Freitas; J. Generowicz; S. Ghosh; A. Goldschmidt; R. Guenette; R. M. Gutiérrez; J. Haefner; K. Hafidi; J. Hauptman; J. A. Hernando Morata; P. Herrero; V. Herrero; Y. Ifergan; B. J. P. Jones; M. Kekic; L. Labarga; A. Laing; P. Lebrun; N. López-March; M. Losada; R. D. P. Mano; A. Martínez; M. Martínez-Vara; G. Martínez-Lema; A. D. McDonald; F. Monrabal; F. J. Mora; J. Muñoz Vidal; P. Novella; B. Palmeiro; J. Pérez; M. Querol; A. B. Redwine; J. Renner; J. Repond; S. Riordan; L. Ripoll; Y. Rodríguez García; J. Rodríguez; L. Rogers; B. Romeo; C. Romo-Luque; F. P. Santos; J. M. F. dos Santos; A. Simón; C. Sofka; M. Sorel; T. Stiegler; J. F. Toledo; J. Torrent; A. Usón; J. F. C. A. Veloso; R. Webb; R. Weiss-Babai; J. T. White; K. Woodruff; N. Yahlali; NEXT Collaboration

doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021005

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Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled

Journal article

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Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled

C. A. O. Henriques, P. Amedo, J. M. R. Teixeira, D. González-Díaz, C. D. R. Azevedo, A. Para, J. Martín-Albo, A. Saa Hernandez, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, D. R. Nygren, …

Physical review. X, Vol.12(2), 021005

04/07/2022

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021005

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Abstract

We present evidence of non-excimer-based secondary scintillation in gaseous xenon, obtained using both the NEXT-White time projection chamber (TPC) and a dedicated setup. Detailed comparison with first-principle calculations allows us to assign this scintillation mechanism to neutral bremsstrahlung (NBrS), a process that is postulated to exist in xenon that has been largely overlooked. For photon emission below 1000 nm, the NBrS yield increases from about 10−2 photon/𝑒− cm−1 bar−1 at pressure-reduced electric field values of 50 V cm−1 bar−1 to above 3×10−1 photon/𝑒− cm−1 bar−1 at 500 V cm−1 bar−1. Above 1.5 kV cm−1 bar−1, values that are typically employed for electroluminescence, it is estimated that NBrS is present with an intensity around 1 photon/𝑒− cm−1 bar−1, which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than conventional, excimer-based electroluminescence. Despite being fainter than its excimeric counterpart, our calculations reveal that NBrS causes luminous backgrounds that can interfere, in either gas or liquid phase, with the ability to distinguish and/or to precisely measure low primary-scintillation signals (S1). In particular, we show this to be the case in the “buffer” region, where keeping the electric field below the electroluminescence threshold does not suffice to extinguish secondary scintillation. The electric field leakage in this region should be mitigated to avoid intolerable levels of NBrS emission. Furthermore, we show that this new source of light emission opens up a viable path toward obtaining S2 signals for discrimination purposes in future single-phase liquid TPCs for neutrino and dark matter physics, with estimated yields up to 20–50 photons/𝑒− cm−1.

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Title: Subtitle: Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled
Creators: C. A. O. Henriques
P. Amedo - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
J. M. R. Teixeira
D. González-Díaz - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
C. D. R. Azevedo
A. Para - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Martín-Albo - Universitat de València
A. Saa Hernandez
J. J. Gómez-Cadenas
D. R. Nygren
C. M. B. Monteiro
C. Adams - Argonne National Laboratory
V. Álvarez - Universitat Politècnica de València
L. Arazi - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
I. J. Arnquist
K. Bailey - Argonne National Laboratory
F. Ballester - Universitat Politècnica de València
J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez
F. I. G. M. Borges
N. Byrnes - The University of Texas at Arlington
S. Cárcel - Universitat de València
J. V. Carrión
S. Cebrián - Universidad de Zaragoza
E. Church - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
C. A. N. Conde
T. Contreras - Harvard University
G. Díaz - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
J. Díaz - Universitat de València
M. Diesburg - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Escada - University of Coimbra
R. Esteve - Universitat Politècnica de València
R. Felkai - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
A. F. M. Fernandes
L. M. P. Fernandes
P. Ferrario - Ikerbasque
A. L. Ferreira
E. D. C. Freitas
J. Generowicz - Donostia International Physics Center
S. Ghosh - Harvard University
A. Goldschmidt - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
R. Guenette - Harvard University
R. M. Gutiérrez
J. Haefner - Harvard University
K. Hafidi - Argonne National Laboratory
J. Hauptman - Iowa State University
J. A. Hernando Morata
P. Herrero - Donostia International Physics Center
V. Herrero - Universitat Politècnica de València
Y. Ifergan - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
B. J. P. Jones
M. Kekic - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
L. Labarga - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
A. Laing - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
P. Lebrun - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
N. López-March - Universidad Antonio Nariño
M. Losada - University of Coimbra
R. D. P. Mano
A. Martínez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Martínez-Vara - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
G. Martínez-Lema - The University of Texas at Arlington
A. D. McDonald
F. Monrabal - Instituto de Instrumentación para Imagen Molecular
F. J. Mora
J. Muñoz Vidal
P. Novella - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
B. Palmeiro - Canfranc Underground Laboratory
J. Pérez - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Querol - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
A. B. Redwine
J. Renner - Argonne National Laboratory
J. Repond - Argonne National Laboratory
S. Riordan - Universitat de Girona
L. Ripoll - Universidad Antonio Nariño
Y. Rodríguez García
J. Rodríguez - The University of Texas at Arlington
L. Rogers - Canfranc Underground Laboratory
B. Romeo - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
C. Romo-Luque - University of Coimbra
F. P. Santos
J. M. F. dos Santos
A. Simón - Texas A&M University
C. Sofka - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
M. Sorel - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
T. Stiegler - Instituto de Instrumentación para Imagen Molecular
J. F. Toledo
J. Torrent - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
A. Usón - University of Aveiro
J. F. C. A. Veloso
R. Webb - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
R. Weiss-Babai - Texas A&M University
J. T. White
K. Woodruff - Instituto de Física Corpuscular
N. Yahlali
NEXT Collaboration
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Physical review. X, Vol.12(2), 021005
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021005
ISSN: 2160-3308
eISSN: 2160-3308
Language: English
Date published: 04/07/2022
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984627239002771

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