Single molecule fluorescence imaging as a technique for barium tagging in neutrinoless double beta decay
Single molecule fluorescence imaging as a technique for barium tagging in neutrinoless double beta decay
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DOI：
10.1088/1748-0221/11/12/p12011
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发表时间：
2016-12-01
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
Nygren, D. R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jones, B. J. P.;McDonald, A. D.;Nygren, D. R.
背景抑制是未来中微子双β衰变实验成功的关键。为了使马约拉纳的有效寿命达到10（28）年的灵敏度，背景必须控制在每年每吨0.1个以上，这是目前任何技术都无法达到的。本文提出了一种新的方法来鉴别氙-136的中微子双β衰变中钡子离子的诞生。该方法采用了单分子荧光成像技术，这是一种来自生物化学研究的技术，具有单离子敏感性。我们探索了适用于高压氙气中钡离子检测问题的SMFI染料，并开发了一种光纤耦合传感系统，可以远程检测大块Ba++离子的存在。我们表明，当在水溶液中操作时，我们的传感器产生的信号与背景比高达85，以响应Ba++离子。然后，我们描述了这个研发计划的下一阶段，这将是证明氙气中的螯合和荧光。如果利用SMFI成功开发出适用于高压氙气探测器的钡离子标签，则可以实现首个基本为零背景的吨级中微子双β衰变技术。
Background rejection is key to success for future neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. To achieve sensitivity to effective Majorana lifetimes of similar to 10(28) years, backgrounds must be controlled to better than 0.1 count per ton per year, beyond the reach of any present technology. In this paper we propose a new method to identify the birth of the barium daughter ion in the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136. The method adapts Single Molecule Fluorescent Imaging, a technique from biochemistry research with demonstrated single ion sensitivity. We explore possible SMFI dyes suitable for the problem of barium ion detection in high pressure xenon gas, and develop a fiber-coupled sensing system with which we can detect the presence of bulk Ba++ ions remotely. We show that our sensor produces signal-to-background ratios as high as 85 in response to Ba++ ions when operated in aqueous solution. We then describe the next stage of this R&D program, which will be to demonstrate chelation and fluorescence in xenon gas. If a successful barium ion tag can be developed using SMFI adapted for high pressure xenon gas detectors, the first essentially zero background, ton-scale neutrinoless double beta decay technology could be realized.