Collaborative research for DUSEL: Barium tagging in liquid xenon for EXO

DUSEL 合作研究：EXO 液氙中的钡标记

• 批准号: 0652690
• 负责人: Carter Hall
• 金额: $ 25.55万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0652690&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; research; DUSEL; Barium; tagging

EXO is a ton-class neutrino-less double beta decay experiment employing 136-Xe and is unique among such experiments as it utilizes a novel technique to tag the atomic species produced in the final state (Ba) of the double beta decay using laser spectroscopy. This technique has the promise of drastically reducing radioactive backgrounds, providing a clean and un-ambiguous measurement with unprecedented sensitivity. In the last few years, EXO R&D has been equally divided between the construction of a 200 kg intermediate scale detector (EXO-200) without Ba tagging and the development of the Ba tagging system. EXO-200 construction is now nearing completion. The work proposed here concentrates on Ba extraction from the liquid xenon (LXe) and identification. Some new ideas, presented here, have the potential of providing the key for the design of the full scale EXO experiment. Previous R&D has resulted in an ion trap capable of clear single Ba ion detection in the presence of a cooling gas, and the initial experimentation with a number of Ba transfer techniques. The R&D proposed here will revolve around three parallel themes, each to be developed by one of the three collaborating institutions. The conclusion of EXO Ba tagging R&D, along with the successful operation of the EXO-200 detector, will result in the design of a formidable next generation double beta detector to be sited at an underground laboratory in the near future. The techniques to be developed in this project span a broad range of topics, from nuclear and particle astrophysics, to AMO, surface physics and material science. This research, if successful, is likely to be applicable to other problems in science and technology, where the high efficiency transfer and identification of single atoms would be of interest. Examples include trace analysis for homeland security applications and the detection of rare phenomena.

EXO是一个使用136-氘的吨级无中微子双β衰变实验，在这些实验中是独一无二的，因为它利用了一种新的技术来标记双β衰变终态（Ba）中产生的原子种类。 这项技术有望大幅降低放射性背景，提供一个干净和明确的测量，具有前所未有的灵敏度。在过去的几年中，EXO的研发工作分为两部分：一部分是建造200公斤的中型探测器（EXO-200），不使用Ba标记;另一部分是开发Ba标记系统。EXO-200的建造工作现已接近完成。本文的工作主要集中在从液态氙（LXe）中提取钡和鉴别。一些新的想法，这里提出的，有可能提供的关键设计的全尺寸EXO实验。先前的研发已经产生了能够在存在冷却气体的情况下进行清晰的单个Ba离子检测的离子阱，以及使用许多Ba转移技术的初始实验。本文建议的研究发展工作将围绕三个平行的主题，每个主题将由三个合作机构之一开发。EXO Ba标记研发的结束，沿着EXO-200探测器的成功运行，将导致在不久的将来设计出一个强大的下一代双β探测器，并将安装在地下实验室。在这个项目中开发的技术跨越了广泛的主题，从核和粒子天体物理学，AMO，表面物理学和材料科学。这项研究如果成功，很可能适用于科学和技术中的其他问题，其中单个原子的高效转移和识别将是令人感兴趣的。例如，用于国土安全应用的痕量分析和罕见现象的检测。