Development of an ultra-sensitive radon detector for the SuperNEMO experiment

Mamedov, F.; Štekl, I.; Koníček, J.; Smolek, K.; Čermák, Pavel

doi:10.1088/1748-0221/6/12/c12008

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Commercial radon monitors have a detection limit on the order of 1 Bq/m 3 (STP a ) 22,23 which is not sufficient for Borexino. Better sensitivity may be achieved by electrostatic collection of charged radon daughters and subsequent alpha counting: [24][25][26] A silicon PIN photo-diode is placed on one side of a stainless steel vessel and is put on a negative potential with respect to the vessel walls. The decay products of radon are usually positively charged, so they will be collected and deposited on the PIN diode, provided that they are not neutralized during their drift.…”

Section: Electrostatic Radon Monitormentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of radioactive trace impurities with μBq-sensitivity in Borexino

Simgen

Heusser

Laubenstein

et al. 2014

Int. J. Mod. Phys. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Borexino has set new standards in the field of ultra-low background experiments. Such a success was only possible by a strict quality control program during the construction phase of the experiment. In this paper, we describe how construction materials and auxiliary systems of the Borexino detector were screened for their residual radioactivity with unprecedented high sensitivity. The highly sensitive assay techniques developed for this purpose were also used to validate the purity of water and nitrogen used in the experiment. Moreover, we report on the production of 222 Rn-free nitrogen and synthetic air with very low 222 Rn concentration as well as on the successful search for commercial nitrogen with a particularly low concentration of argon and krypton.

show abstract

Section: Electrostatic Radon Monitormentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of radioactive trace impurities with μBq-sensitivity in Borexino

Simgen

Heusser

Laubenstein

et al. 2014

Int. J. Mod. Phys. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Compared with the ZnS(Ag) scintillation detector, the Si-PIN photodiode has been increasingly used for low-level radon concentration measurement in recent years [17][18][19][20][21][22] due to its higher resolution spectrum of alpha particles. With the Si-PIN detector, alpha particles from 218 Po, 216 Po and 210 Po can be discriminated from each other easily, and the background for the regions of interest (ROIs) can be kept stable at a relatively low level without the influence of 210 Po accumulation.…”

Section: Measurement Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

Upgrade of a Highly Sensitive Monitor for Atmospheric Radon Measurement

Zhang¹,

Mao

Wang

et al. 2021

Atmosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Atmospheric radon is an ideal tracer that is widely used in atmospheric science. To meet the need fora continuous online measurement of atmospheric radon concentration, an upgraded radon monitor based on an electrostatic collection method was developed following Iida’s measurement system. Two major improvements have been realized. First, an 18 mm × 18 mm Si-PIN detector and a multi-channel analysis system were used to distinguish different alpha particles. Second, the P2O5 desiccant was replaced by a new membrane drying system, and the influence of humidity was corrected by a humidity correction coefficient. Calibration and comparison experiments were carried out in detail, and a one-year continuous measurement was also performed. Results showed that the measurement sensitivity was evaluated to be 24.3 cph/(Bq·m−3), and the lower level detection limit was 0.2 Bq·m−3 for a 1-h cycle at the absolute humidity of 0.34 g·m−3. The annual average radon concentration of Beijing was 11.1 ± 4.0 Bq·m−3, which changed from 2.8 Bq·m−3 to 30.3 Bq·m−3 between 15 October 2018 and 1 October 2019. The upgraded monitor’s high data acquisition rate and good performance indicate that it is suitable for long-term observation on atmospheric radon.

show abstract

“…The detector performance is based on the electrostatic collection of 222 Rn daughter nuclei [29,30]. As 222 Rn atoms in the carrier gas enter the detector, they may decay and produce 218 Po atoms.…”

Section: Rn Electrostatic Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of radon reduction in gases for rare event search experiments

Pushkin¹,

Akerlof²,

Anbajagane³

et al. 2018

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The noble elements, argon and xenon, are frequently employed as the target and event detector for weakly interacting particles such as neutrinos and Dark Matter. For such rare processes, background radiation must be carefully minimized. Radon provides one of the most significant contaminants since it is an inevitable product of trace amounts of natural uranium. To design a purification system for reducing such contamination, the adsorption characteristics of radon in nitrogen, argon, and xenon carrier gases on various types of charcoals with different adsorbing properties and intrinsic radioactive purities have been studied in the temperature range of 190-295 K at flow rates of 0.5 and 2 standard liters per minute. Essential performance parameters for the various charcoals include the average breakthrough times (τ), dynamic adsorption coefficients (k a ) and the number of theoretical stages (n). It is shown that the k a -values for radon in nitrogen, argon, and xenon increase as the temperature of the charcoal traps decreases, and that they are significantly larger in nitrogen and argon than in xenon gas due to adsorption saturation effects. It is found that, unlike in xenon, the dynamic adsorption coefficients for radon in nitrogen and argon strictly obey the Arrhenius law. The experimental results strongly indicate that nitric acid etched Saratech is the best candidate among all used charcoal brands. It allows reducing total radon concentration in the LZ liquid Xe detector to meet the ultimate goal in the search for Dark Matter.

show abstract

Development of an ultra-sensitive radon detector for the SuperNEMO experiment

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

Analysis of radioactive trace impurities with μBq-sensitivity in Borexino

Analysis of radioactive trace impurities with μBq-sensitivity in Borexino

Upgrade of a Highly Sensitive Monitor for Atmospheric Radon Measurement

Study of radon reduction in gases for rare event search experiments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About