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NEXT Collaboration(Renner, J. et al), Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Ferrario, P., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2017). Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks. J. Instrum., 12, T01004–21pp.
Abstract: We investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement.
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Alvarez, V., Herrero-Bosch, V., Esteve, R., Laing, A., Rodriguez, J., Querol, M., et al. (2019). The electronics of the energy plane of the NEXT-White detector. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 917, 68–76.
Abstract: This paper describes the electronics of NEXT-White (NEW) detector PMT plane, a high pressure xenon TPC with electroluminescent amplification (HPXe-EL) currently operating at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC) in Huesca, Spain. In NEXT-White the energy of the event is measured by a plane of photomultipliers (PMTs) located behind a transparent cathode. The PMTs are Hamamatsu R11410-10 chosen due to their low radioactivity. The electronics have been designed and implemented to fulfill strict requirements: an overall energy resolution below 1% and a radiopurity budget of 20 mBq unit(-1) in the chain of Bi-214. All the components and materials have been carefully screened to assure a low radioactivity level and at the same time meet the required front-end electronics specifications. In order to reduce low frequency noise effects and enhance detector safety a grounded cathode connection has been used for the PMTs. This implies an AC-coupled readout and baseline variations in the PMT signals. A detailed description of the electronics and a novel approach based on a digital baseline restoration to obtain a linear response and handle AC coupling effects is presented. The final PMT channel design has been characterized with linearity better than 0.4% and noise below 0.4 mV.
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NEXT Collaboration(Lorca, D. et al), Martin-Albo, J., Laing, A., Ferrario, P., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2014). Characterisation of NEXT-DEMO using xenon K-alpha X-rays. J. Instrum., 9, P10007–20pp.
Abstract: The NEXT experiment aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136 in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescence (EL) to amplify the signal from ionization. Understanding the response of the detector is imperative in achieving a consistent and well understood energy measurement. The abundance of xenon K-shell X-ray emission during data taking has been identified as a multitool for the characterisation of the fundamental parameters of the gas as well as the equalisation of the response of the detector. The NEXT-DEMO prototype is a similar to 1.5 kg volume TPC filled with natural xenon. It employs an array of 19 PMTs as an energy plane and of 256 SiPMs as a tracking plane with the TPC light tube and SiPM surfaces being coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) which acts as a wavelength shifter for the VUV scintillation light produced by xenon. This paper presents the measurement of the properties of the drift of electrons in the TPC, the effects of the EL production region, and the extraction of position dependent correction constants using K-alpha X-ray deposits. These constants were used to equalise the response of the detector to deposits left by gammas from Na-22.
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NEXT Collaboration(Serra, L. et al), Sorel, M., Alvarez, V., Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., et al. (2015). An improved measurement of electron-ion recombination in high-pressure xenon gas. J. Instrum., 10, P03025–21pp.
Abstract: We report on results obtained with the NEXT-DEMO prototype of the NEXT-100 high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber (TPC), filled with pure xenon gas at 10 bar pressure and exposed to an alpha decay calibration source. Compared to our previous measurements with alpha particles, an upgraded detector and improved analysis techniques have been used. We measure event-by-event correlated fluctuations between ionization and scintillation due to electronion recombination in the gas, with correlation coefficients between -0.80 and -0.56 depending on the drift field conditions. By combining the two signals, we obtain a 2.8% FWHM energy resolution for 5.49 MeV alpha particles and a measurement of the optical gain of the electroluminescent TPC. The improved energy resolution also allows us to measure the specific activity of the radon in the gas due to natural impurities. Finally, we measure the average ratio of excited to ionized atoms produced in the xenon gas by alpha particles to be 0.561 +/- 0.045, translating into an average energy to produce a primary scintillation photon of W-ex = (39.2 +/- 3.2) eV.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Ionization and scintillation response of high-pressure xenon gas to alpha particles. J. Instrum., 8, P05025–35pp.
Abstract: High-pressure xenon gas is an attractive detection medium for a variety of applications in fundamental and applied physics. In this paper we study the ionization and scintillation detection properties of xenon gas at 10 bar pressure. For this purpose, we use a source of alpha particles in the NEXT-DEMO time projection chamber, the large scale prototype of the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, in three different drift electric field configurations. We measure the ionization electron drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion, and compare our results to expectations based on available electron scattering cross sections on pure xenon. In addition, two types of measurements addressing the connection between the ionization and scintillation yields are performed. On the one hand we observe, for the first time in xenon gas, large event-by-event correlated fluctuations between the ionization and scintillation signals, similar to that already observed in liquid xenon. On the other hand, we study the field dependence of the average scintillation and ionization yields. Both types of measurements may shed light on the mechanism of electron-ion recombination in xenon gas for highly-ionizing particles. Finally, by comparing the response of alpha particles and electrons in NEXT-DEMO, we find no evidence for quenching of the primary scintillation light produced by alpha particles in the xenon gas.
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