Development of noble gas/liquid detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches

开发用于无中微子双β衰变和暗物质搜索的惰性气体/液体探测器

• 批准号: 341544-2007
• 负责人: Graham, Kevin
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Individual
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=364307
• 关键词: Development; noble; gas; liquid; detectors

Some of the most compelling questions in present-day physics, such as discovering dark matter particles ordetermining the neutrino mass scale via neutrinoless double beta decay, can only be answered via large-mass, low-background detectors sensitive to rare processes at the level of tens of events/year.  Such detectors must be constructed from ultra-pure materials to minimize internally generated backgrounds, properly shielded from backgrounds local to the experimental environment, and located deep underground to minimize contamination from cosmic-ray induced backgrounds.Efforts are currently underway to develop noble gas/liquid detectors utilizing ionization induced charge and/or scintillation light as the detection mechanism.  The central target for such detectors, typically Argon or Xenon in liquid or gaseous form, can be readily purified to reduce most backgrounds to the parts per billion level.  The detector signals can provide good energy resolution and position reconstruction enabling significant suppression of background levels and efficient identification of signal events.  The proposed research will focus on the development of noble gas/liquid detector technology with the  aim of designing and constructing large-scale detectors for dark matter particle and neutrinoless double beta decay searches.  A large-scale gaseous Xenon time projection chamber (TPC) with scintillation light readout is being developed at Carleton with the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) collaboration.  The goal here is to measure the double beta decay spectrum of 136Xe and search for a neutrinoless double beta decay signal. Development of a liquid argon scintillation detector for a dark matter search will be carried out in conjunction with the Dark Matter Experiment using Argon Pulse shapes (DEAP). The SNOLAB facility, providing 6000 meters water equivalent of cosmic-ray shielding, is the ideal site to host both of these experiments.

当今物理学中一些最引人注目的问题，例如发现暗物质粒子或通过无中微子双贝塔衰变确定中微子质量尺度，只能通过对每年数十次事件水平的罕见过程敏感的大质量、低背景探测器来回答。  此类探测器必须由超纯材料制成，以最大限度地减少内部产生的背景，适当屏蔽实验环境局部背景，并位于地下深处，以最大限度地减少宇宙射线引起的背景污染。目前正在努力开发利用电离感应电荷和/或闪烁光作为探测机制的惰性气体/液体探测器。  此类探测器的中心目标通常是液态或气态的氩或氙，可以很容易地进行纯化，以将大多数背景降低到十亿分之几的水平。  探测器信号可以提供良好的能量分辨率和位置重建，从而能够显着抑制背景水平并有效识别信号事件。  拟议的研究将重点关注惰性气体/液体探测器技术的开发，旨在设计和建造用于暗物质粒子和无中微子双贝塔衰变搜索的大型探测器。  卡尔顿大学正在与浓缩氙天文台 (EXO) 合作开发带有闪烁光读数的大型气态氙时间投影室 (TPC)。  这里的目标是测量 136Xe 的双 β 衰变谱并寻找无中微子双 β 衰变信号。用于暗物质搜索的液氩闪烁探测器的开发将与使用氩脉冲形状（DEAP）的暗物质实验结合进行。 SNOLAB 设施提供 6000 米水当量的宇宙射线屏蔽，是举办这两项实验的理想场所。