DUSEL R&D for tonne-scale LAr and LXe Dark Matter Detectors

液化惰性气体，如LXE、LAr和LNe，在寻找弱相互作用质量粒子(WIMP)暗物质方面具有巨大的潜力。它们易于提纯，对核反冲具有很大的闪烁和电离产额，并显示出对电子反冲和核反冲的有效区分。与更传统的WIMP搜索材料相比，一个显著的优势是基于液化稀有气体的探测器可以以直接和廉价的方式扩展到大量活动质量。耶鲁大学、布朗大学和凯斯西储大学的这项提案要求为三个广泛应用于液化稀有气体WIMP探测器的研发课题提供资金：1.高效净化大量LXE、LAR和LNe。两相LXE和LAR探测器中的电荷放大。可低温工作的低放射性石英光电倍增管的研制。这些研发项目可以为未来基于液化惰性气体的暗物质实验提供改进的途径。与LXE、LAR和LNe相关的技术(包括净化、闪烁探测和电离探测)的发展与世界上越来越多的使用液化惰性气体作为中微子或伽马射线探测材料的实验有关。这些项目还将为合作机构的研究生提供辐射探测、低温、低噪音电子学和气体净化方面的技术培训。

Liquefied noble gases, such as LXe, LAr, and LNe, have great potential in the search for Weakly Interacting Mass Particle (WIMP) dark matter. They are easily purified, have large scintillation and ionization yields for nuclear recoils, and exhibit effective discrimination between electronic and nuclear recoils. A significant advantage compared to more traditional WIMP search materials is that detectors based on liquefied noble gases may be scaled to large active masses in a straightforward and inexpensive manner.This proposal from the Yale, Brown and Case Western Reserve Universities requests funding for three R&D topics with broad application to liquefied noble gas WIMP detectors:1. Efficient purification of large quantities of LXe, LAr, and LNe.2. Charge amplification in two-phase LXe and LAr detectors.3. Development of low-radioactivity quartz photomultipliers that can be operated at low temperatures. These R&D projects could allow avenues for improvement of the performance of future dark matter experiments based on liquefied noble gases.Development of technologies related to LXe, LAr, and LNe (including purification, scintillation detection, and ionization detection) are relevant to the increasingly large number of experiments worldwide that use liquefied noble gases as detection materials for neutrinos or gamma rays. These projects will also result in technical training in radiation detection, cryogenics, low-noise electronics, and gas purification for graduate students at the collaborating institutions.