Effect of an electric field on superfluid helium scintillation produced by<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math>-particle sources

Ito, T. M.; Clayton, S. M.; Ramsey, J.; Karcz, Maciej; Liu, C.-Y.; Long, J.; Reddy, T. Goverdhan; Seidel, G. M.

doi:10.1103/physreva.85.042718

Cited by 32 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…with ξ = n 0 γτ /r, is the fraction of excimers that decay radiatively, while rest of the energy is quenched and appears in the quasiparticle channel. Ito & Seidel fix the bimolecular rate with the calorimetric observation that f = 0.5 for 5.5-MeV α particles [30,53,54]. Since secondary electrons have a non-negligible effect on the ionization and excitation stopping powers at this energy, we use Ito & Seidel's track density calculations for a rough estimate of γ = 13 cm −1 s −1 .…”

Section: Energy Partitioning In Superfluid 4 Hementioning

confidence: 99%

Direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter using a superfluid He4 target

et al. 2019

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A promising technology concept for sub-GeV dark matter detection is described, in which lowtemperature microcalorimeters serve as the sensors and superfluid 4 He serves as the target material. A superfluid helium target has several advantageous properties, including a light nuclear mass for better kinematic matching with light dark matter particles, copious production of scintillation light, extremely good intrinsic radiopurity, a high impedance to external vibration noise, and a unique mechanism for observing phonon-like modes via liberation of 4 He atoms into a vacuum ('quantum evaporation'). In this concept, both scintillation photons and triplet excimers are detected using calorimeters, including calorimeters immersed in the superfluid. Kinetic excitations of the superfluid medium (rotons and phonons) are detected using quantum evaporation and subsequent atomic adsorption onto a microcalorimeter suspended in vacuum above the target helium. The energy of adsorption amplifies the phonon/roton signal before calorimetric sensing, producing a gain mechanism that can reduce the techonology's recoil energy threshold below the calorimeter energy threshold. We describe signal production and signal sensing probabilities, and estimate electron recoil discrimination. We then simulate radioactive backgrounds from gamma rays and neutrons. Dark matter -nucleon elastic scattering cross-section sensitivities are projected, demonstrating that even very small (sub-kg) target masses can probe wide regions of as-yet untested dark matter parameter space.

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Section: Energy Partitioning In Superfluid 4 Hementioning

confidence: 99%

Direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter using a superfluid He4 target

et al. 2019

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“…• Finally, the scintillation yield from α interactions in liquid helium has been shown to depend on the magnitude of the electric field, with a reduction of 15% at the operating field (75 kV/cm) [52]. A comparable reduction is expected for scintillation from neutron capture products [53], providing a way to monitor the electric field in the measurement cell if the optical gain (the product of photon detection efficiency (PDE) and electronic gain) can be monitored to 0.5% between E = 0 calibration runs.…”

Section: System Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new cryogenic apparatus to search for the neutron electric dipole moment

et al. 2019

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A cryogenic apparatus is described that enables a new experiment, nEDM@SNS, with a major improvement in sensitivity compared to the existing limit in the search for a neutron Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). This apparatus uses superfluid 4 He to produce a high density of Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCN) which are contained in a suitably coated pair of measurement cells. The experiment, to be operated at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uses polarized 3 He from an Atomic Beam Source injected into the superfluid 4 He and transported to the measurement cells where it serves as a co-magnetometer. The superfluid 4 He is also used as an insulating medium allowing significantly higher electric fields, compared to previous experiments, to be maintained across the measurement cells. These features provide an ultimate statistical uncertainty for the EDM of 2 − 3 × 10 −28 e-cm, with anticipated systematic uncertainties below this level.

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“…[37] and reference therein). Recently it has been shown that such a PMT can reliably detect single photons when cooled close to the temperature of liquid He [38], [39], [40].…”

Section: Detection Of Light At Cryogenic Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryogenic phonon–scintillation detectors with PMT readout for rare event search experiments

Zhang

Lin

Mikhailik

et al. 2016

Astroparticle Physics

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a b s t r a c tCryogenic phonon-scintillation detectors (CPSD) for rare event search experiments require reliable, efficient and robust photon detectors that can resolve individual photons in a scintillation event. We report on a cryogenic detector containing a scintillating crystal, equipped with an NTD-Ge phonon sensor and a photon detector based on a low-temperature photomultiplier tube (PMT) that is powered by a CockcroftWalton generator. Here we present results from the characterisation of two detector modules, one with CaWO 4 , the other with CaMoO 4 as scintillator. The energy resolutions (FWHM) at 122.1 keV for the scintillation/PMT channel are 19.9% and 29.7% respectively for CaWO 4 and CaMoO 4 while the energy resolutions (FWHM) for the phonon channels are 2.17 keV (1.8%) and 0.97 keV (0.79%). These characteristics compare favourably with other CPSDs currently used in cryogenic rare-event search experiments. The detection module with PMT readout benefits from the implementation of a well-understood, reliable, and commercially available component and improved time resolution, while retaining the major advantages of conventional CPSD, such as high sensitivity, resolving power and discrimination ability.

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Effect of an electric field on superfluid helium scintillation produced byα-particle sources

Cited by 32 publications

References 42 publications

Direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter using a superfluid He4 target

Direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter using a superfluid He4 target

A new cryogenic apparatus to search for the neutron electric dipole moment

Cryogenic phonon–scintillation detectors with PMT readout for rare event search experiments

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