Performance of the ReD TPC, a novel double-phase LAr detector with silicon photomultiplier readout

AbstractA double-phase argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC), with an active mass of 185 g, has been designed and constructed for the Recoil Directionality (ReD) experiment. The aim of the ReD project is to investigate the directional sensitivity of argon-based TPCs via columnar recombination to nuclear recoils in the energy range of interest (20–$$200\,\hbox {keV}_{nr}$$ 200 keV nr ) for direct dark matter searches. The key novel feature of the ReD TPC is a readout system based on cryogenic Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), which are employed and operated continuously for the first time in an argon TPC. Over the course of 6 months, the ReD TPC was commissioned and characterised under various operating conditions using $$\gamma $$ γ -ray and neutron sources, demonstrating remarkable stability of the optical sensors and reproducibility of the results. The scintillation gain and ionisation amplification of the TPC were measured to be $$g_1 = (0.194 \pm 0.013)$$ g 1 = ( 0.194 ± 0.013 ) photoelectrons/photon and $$g_2 = (20.0 \pm 0.9)$$ g 2 = ( 20.0 ± 0.9 ) photoelectrons/electron, respectively. The ratio of the ionisation to scintillation signals (S2/S1), instrumental for the positive identification of a candidate directional signal induced by WIMPs, has been investigated for both nuclear and electron recoils. At a drift field of 183 V/cm, an S2/S1 dispersion of 12% was measured for nuclear recoils of approximately 60–$$90\,\hbox {keV}_{nr}$$ 90 keV nr , as compared to 18% for electron recoils depositing 60 keV of energy. The detector performance reported here meets the requirements needed to achieve the principal scientific goals of the ReD experiment in the search for a directional effect due to columnar recombination. A phenomenological parameterisation of the recombination probability in LAr is presented and employed for modeling the dependence of scintillation quenching and charge yield on the drift field for electron recoils between 50–500 keV and fields up to 1000 V/cm.

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First operation and drift field performance of a large area double phase LAr Electron Multiplier Time Projection Chamber with an immersed Greinacher high-voltage multiplier

Journal of Instrumentation ◽

10.1088/1748-0221/7/08/p08026 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (08) ◽

pp. P08026-P08026 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

A Badertscher ◽

A Curioni ◽

U Degunda ◽

L Epprecht ◽

A Gendotti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Voltage ◽

Time Projection Chamber ◽

Field Performance ◽

Large Area ◽

Electron Multiplier ◽

Voltage Multiplier ◽

Drift Field ◽

Double Phase ◽

Time Projection

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Recoil Directionality Experiment

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201920901031 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 209 ◽

pp. 01031

Author(s):

S. Sanfilippo ◽

P. Agnes ◽

M. Arba ◽

M. Ave ◽

E. Baracchini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Liquid Argon ◽

Current Status ◽

Directional Sensitivity ◽

Dual Phase ◽

Test Beam ◽

Nuclear Recoils ◽

Phase Liquid ◽

Frame Work ◽

Time Projection

Directional sensitivity to nuclear recoils could provide a smoking gun for a possible discovery of dark matter in the form of WIMPs. A hint of directional dependence of the response of a dual-phase liquid argon Time Projection Chamber was found in the SCENE experiment. Given the potential importance of such a capability in the frame work of dark matter searches, a new dedicated experiment, ReD (Recoil Directionality), was designed in the framework of the DarkSide Collaboration, in order to scrutinize this hint. This contribution will describe the performance of the detectors achieved during the first test-beam, the current status of ReD and the perspectives for physics measurements during the forthcoming beam-time.

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Identification of low energy nuclear recoils in a gas time projection chamber with optical readout

Measurement Science and Technology ◽

10.1088/1361-6501/abbd12 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 025902

Author(s):

E Baracchini ◽

L Benussi ◽

S Bianco ◽

C Capoccia ◽

M Caponero ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Projection Chamber ◽

Low Energy ◽

Optical Readout ◽

Nuclear Recoils ◽

Time Projection

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Energy resolution and linearity of XENON1T in the MeV energy range

The European Physical Journal C ◽

10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-8284-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 80 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

E. Aprile ◽

J. Aalbers ◽

F. Agostini ◽

M. Alfonsi ◽

L. Althueser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Resolution ◽

Rare Events ◽

Correction Method ◽

Relative Energy ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Dual Phase ◽

Readout System ◽

Phase Time ◽

Saturation Effects ◽

Time Projection

Abstract Xenon dual-phase time projection chambers designed to search for weakly interacting massive particles have so far shown a relative energy resolution which degrades with energy above $$\sim $$∼ 200 keV due to the saturation effects. This has limited their sensitivity in the search for rare events like the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $$^{136} \hbox {Xe}$$136Xe at its Q value, $$Q_{\beta \beta }\simeq 2.46\,\hbox {MeV}$$Qββ≃2.46MeV. For the XENON1T dual-phase time projection chamber, we demonstrate that the relative energy resolution at $$1\,\sigma /\mu $$1σ/μ is as low as ($$0.80 \pm 0.02$$0.80±0.02) % in its one-ton fiducial mass, and for single-site interactions at $$Q_{\beta \beta }$$Qββ. We also present a new signal correction method to rectify the saturation effects of the signal readout system, resulting in more accurate position reconstruction and indirectly improving the energy resolution. The very good result achieved in XENON1T opens up new windows for the xenon dual-phase dark matter detectors to simultaneously search for other rare events.

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Gas-filled detectors

Particle Detectors ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198858362.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 171-254

Author(s):

Hermann Kolanoski ◽

Norbert Wermes

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Fields ◽

Particle Physics ◽

Parallel Plate ◽

Charged Particles ◽

Aging Effects ◽

Charge Generation ◽

Detector Performance ◽

Time Projection Chambers ◽

Drift Chambers ◽

Time Projection

Detectors that record charged particles through their ionisation of gases are found in many experiments of nuclear and particle physics. By conversion of the charges created along a track into electrical signals, particle trajectories can be measured with these detectors in large volumes, also inside magnetic fields. The operation principles of gaseous detectors are explained, which include charge generation, gas amplification, operation modes and gas mixtures. Different detector types are described in some detail, starting with ionisation chambers without gas amplification, proceeding to those with gas amplification like spark and streamer chambers, parallel plate arrangements, multi-wire proportional chambers, chambers with microstructured electrodes, drift chambers, and ending with time-projection chambers. The chapter closes with an overview of aging effects in gaseous detectors which cause negative alterations of the detector performance.

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Design and Evaluation of LYSO/SiPM LIGHTENING PET Detector with DTI Sampling Method

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20205820 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (20) ◽

pp. 5820

Author(s):

Zhenzhou Deng ◽

Yushan Deng ◽

Guandong Chen

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Average Energy ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Optimum Operating ◽

Time Interval ◽

Silicon Photomultiplier ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Wide Range

Positron emission tomography (PET) has a wide range of applications in the treatment and prevention of major diseases owing to its high sensitivity and excellent resolution. However, there is still much room for optimization in the readout circuit and fast pulse sampling to further improve the performance of the PET scanner. In this work, a LIGHTENING® PET detector using a 13 × 13 lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystal array read out by a 6 × 6 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array was developed. A novel sampling method, referred to as the dual time interval (DTI) method, is therefore proposed to realize digital acquisition of fast scintillation pulse. A semi-cut light guide was designed, which greatly improves the resolution of the edge region of the crystal array. The obtained flood histogram shown that all the 13 × 13 crystal pixels can be clearly discriminated. The optimum operating conditions for the detector were obtained by comparing the flood histogram quality under different experimental conditions. An average energy resolution (FWHM) of 14.3% and coincidence timing resolution (FWHM) of 972 ps were measured. The experimental results demonstrated that the LIGHTENING® PET detector achieves extremely high resolution which is suitable for the development of a high performance time-of-flight PET scanner.

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Characterization of a hybrid GEM-Micromegas detector with respect to its application in a continuously read out TPC

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201817401016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 01016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Viktor Ratza ◽

Markus Ball ◽

M. Liebtrau ◽

Bernhard Ketzer

Keyword(s):

Space Charge ◽

Time Projection Chamber ◽

Alice Experiment ◽

Detector Performance ◽

Gaseous Electron ◽

Alternative Approach ◽

Amplification System ◽

Baseline Solution ◽

Time Projection

In the context of the upgrade of the LHC during the second long shutdown the interaction rate of the ALICE experiment will be increased up to 50 kHz for Pb-Pb collisions. As a consequence, a continuous read-out of the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) will be required. To keep the space-charge distortions at a manageable size, the ion backflow of the charge amplification system has to be significantly reduced. At the same time an excellent detector performance and stability of the system has to be maintained. A solution with four Gaseous Electron Multipliers (GEMs) has been adopted as baseline solution for the upgraded chambers. As an alternative approach a hybrid GEM-Micromegas detector consisting of one Micromegas (MM) and two GEMs has been investigated. The recent results of the study of the hybrid GEM-Micromegas detector will be presented and compared to measurements with four GEM foils.

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