2016/11/30 by The XENON Collaboration, E. Aprile, J. Aalbers +138 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Calibration #Chemistry #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Detector #Environmental science #Isotope #Nuclear physics #Optics #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Radioactive source #Radiochemistry #Radon #Recoil #physics.ins-det
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.95.072008
published as Phys. Rev. D 95, 072008 (2017)
openalex created_date 2017/02/24 · openalex publication_date 2017/04/11 · arxiv created 2017/04/25 · arxiv updated 2017/04/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A 220Rn source is deployed on the XENON100 dark matter detector in order to address the challenges in calibration of tonne-scale liquid noble element detectors. We show that the 212Pb beta emission can be used for low-energy electronic recoil calibration in searches for dark matter. The isotope spreads throughout the entire active region of the detector, and its activity naturally decays below background level within a week after the source is closed. We find no increase in the activity of the troublesome 222Rn background after calibration. Alpha emitters are also distributed throughout the detector and facilitate calibration of its response to 222Rn. Using the delayed coincidence of 220Rn\text\ensuremath-216Po, we map for the first time the convective motion of particles in the XENON100 detector. Additionally, we make a competitive measurement of the half-life of 212Po, t1/2=(293.9\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi(1.0)stat\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi(0.6)sys) ns.