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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Operation and first results of the NEXT-DEMO prototype using a silicon photomultiplier tracking array. J. Instrum., 8, P09011–20pp.
Abstract: NEXT-DEMO is a high-pressure xenon gas TPC which acts as a technological test-bed and demonstrator for the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. In its current configuration the apparatus fully implements the NEXT-100 design concept. This is an asymmetric TPC, with an energy plane made of photomultipliers and a tracking plane made of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) coated with TPB. The detector in this new configuration has been used to reconstruct the characteristic signature of electrons in dense gas, demonstrating the ability to identify the MIP and “blob” regions. Moreover, the SiPM tracking plane allows for the definition of a large fiducial region in which an excellent energy resolution of 1.82% FWHM at 511 keV has been measured (a value which extrapolates to 0.83% at the xenon Q(beta beta)).
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Olleros, P., Caballero, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Babiano, V., Ladarescu, I., Calvo, D., et al. (2018). On the performance of large monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals coupled to pixelated silicon photosensors. J. Instrum., 13, P03014–17pp.
Abstract: We investigate the performance of large area radiation detectors, with high energy-and spatial-resolution, intended for the development of a Total Energy Detector with gamma-ray imaging capability, so-called i-TED. This new development aims for an enhancement in detection sensitivity in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements, versus the commonly used C6D6 liquid scintillation total-energy detectors. In this work, we study in detail the impact of the readout photosensor on the energy response of large area (50 x 50 mm(2)) monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals, in particular when replacing a conventional mono-cathode photomultiplier tube by an 8 x 8 pixelated silicon photomultiplier. Using the largest commercially available monolithic SiPM array (25 cm(2)), with a pixel size of 6 x 6 mm(2), we have measured an average energy resolution of 3.92% FWHM at 662 keV for crystal thick-nesses of 10, 20 and 30 mm. The results are confronted with detailed Monte Carlo (MC) calculations, where optical processes and properties have been included for the reliable tracking of the scintillation photons. After the experimental validation of the MC model, we use our MC code to explore the impact of a smaller photosensor segmentation on the energy resolution. Our optical MC simulations predict only a marginal deterioration of the spectroscopic performance for pixels of 3 x 3 mm(2).
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Herrero-Garcia, J., Schwetz, T., & Zupan, J. (2012). On the annual modulation signal in dark matter direct detection. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 005–28pp.
Abstract: We derive constraints on the annual modulation signal in Dark Matter (DM) direct detection experiments in terms of the unmodulated event rate. A general bound independent of the details of the DM distribution follows from the assumption that the motion of the earth around the sun is the only source of time variation. The bound is valid for a very general class of particle physics models and also holds in the presence of an unknown unmodulated background. More stringent bounds are obtained, if modest assumptions on symmetry properties of the DM halo are adopted. We illustrate the bounds by applying them to the annual modulation signals reported by the DAMA and CoGeNT experiments in the framework of spin-independent elastic scattering. While the DAMA signal satisfies our bounds, severe restrictions on the DM mass can be set for CoGeNT.
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Double Chooz collaboration(Abrahao, T. et al), & Novella, P. (2018). Novel event classification based on spectral analysis of scintillation waveforms in Double Chooz. J. Instrum., 13, P01031–26pp.
Abstract: Liquid scintillators are a common choice for neutrino physics experiments, but their capabilities to perform background rejection by scintillation pulse shape discrimination is generally limited in large detectors. This paper describes a novel approach for a pulse shape based event classification developed in the context of the Double Chooz reactor antineutrino experiment. Unlike previous implementations, this method uses the Fourier power spectra of the scintillation pulse shapes to obtain event-wise information. A classification variable built from spectral information was able to achieve an unprecedented performance, despite the lack of optimization at the detector design level. Several examples of event classification are provided, ranging from differentiation between the detector volumes and an efficient rejection of instrumental light noise, to some sensitivity to the particle type, such as stopping muons, ortho-positronium formation, alpha particles as well as electrons and positrons. In combination with other techniques the method is expected to allow for a versatile and more efficient background rejection in the future, especially if detector optimization is taken into account at the design level.
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NEXT Collaboration(Byrnes, N. K. et al), Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Lopez, F., Lopez-March, N., Martin-Albo, J., et al. (2023). NEXT-CRAB-0: a high pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber with a direct VUV camera based readout. J. Instrum., 18(8), P08006–33pp.
Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) remains one of the most compelling experimental avenues for the discovery in the neutrino sector. Electroluminescent gas-phase time projection chambers are well suited to 0νββ searches due to their intrinsically precise energy resolution and topological event identification capabilities. Scalability to ton-and multi-ton masses requires readout of large-area electroluminescent regions with fine spatial resolution, low radiogenic backgrounds, and a scalable data acquisition system. This paper presents a detector prototype that records event topology in an electroluminescent xenon gas TPC via VUV image-intensified cameras. This enables an extendable readout of large tracking planes with commercial devices that reside almost entirely outside of the active medium. Following further development in intermediate scale demonstrators, this technique may represent a novel and enlargeable method for topological event imaging in 0νββ.
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Garcia, A. R., Mendoza, E., Cano-Ott, D., Nolte, R., Martinez, T., Algora, A., et al. (2017). New physics model in GEANT4 for the simulation of neutron interactions with organic scintillation detectors. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 868, 73–81.
Abstract: The accurate determination of the response function of organic scintillation neutron detectors complements their experimental characterization. Monte Carlo simulations with GEANT4 can reduce the effort and cost implied, especially for complex detection systems for which the characterization is more challenging. Previous studies have reported on the inaccuracy of GEANT4 in the calculation of the neutron response of organic scintillation detectors above 6 MeV, due to an incomplete description of the neutron-induced alpha production reactions on carbon. We have improved GEANT4 in this direction by incorporating models and data from NRESP, an excellent Monte Carlo simulation tool developed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany, for the specific purpose of calculating the neutron response function of organic scintillation detectors. The results have been verified against simulations with NRESP and validated against Time-Of-Flight measurements with an NE213 detector at PTB. This work has potential applications beyond organic scintillation detectors, to other types of detectors where reactions induced by fast neutrons on carbon require an accurate description.
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Super-Kamiokande Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), & Molina Sedgwick, S. (2022). Neutron tagging following atmospheric neutrino events in a water Cherenkov detector. J. Instrum., 17(10), P10029–41pp.
Abstract: We present the development of neutron-tagging techniques in Super-Kamiokande IV using a neural network analysis. The detection efficiency of neutron capture on hydrogen is estimated to be 26%, with a mis-tag rate of 0.016 per neutrino event. The uncertainty of the tagging efficiency is estimated to be 9.0%. Measurement of the tagging efficiency with data from an Americium-Beryllium calibration agrees with this value within 10%. The tagging procedure was performed on 3,244.4 days of SK-IV atmospheric neutrino data, identifying 18,091 neutrons in 26,473 neutrino events. The fitted neutron capture lifetime was measured as 218 +/- 9 μs.
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Nygren, D. R., Jones, B. J. P., Lopez-March, N., Mei, Y., Psihas, F., & Renner, J. (2018). Neutrinoless double beta decay with 82SeF6 and direct ion imaging. J. Instrum., 13, P03015–23pp.
Abstract: We present a new neutrinoless double beta decay concept: the high pressure selenium hexafluoride gas time projection chamber. A promising new detection technique is outlined which combines techniques pioneered in high pressure xenon gas, such as topological discrimination, with the high Q-value afforded by the double beta decay isotope Se-82. The lack of free electrons in SeF6 mandates the use of an ion TPC. The microphysics of ion production and drift, which have many nuances, are explored. Background estimates are presented, suggesting that such a detector may achieve background indices of better than 1 count per ton per year in the region of interest at the 100 kg scale, and still better at the ton-scale.
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Agarwalla, S. K., Blennow, M., Fernandez-Martinez, E., & Mena, O. (2011). Neutrino probes of the nature of light dark matter. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 09(9), 004–19pp.
Abstract: Dark matter particles gravitationally trapped inside the Sun may annihilate into Standard Model particles, producing a flux of neutrinos. The prospects of detecting these neutrinos in future multi-kt neutrino detectors designed for other physics searches are explored here. We study the capabilities of a 34/100 kt liquid argon detector and a 100 kt magnetized iron calorimeter detector. These detectors are expected to determine the energy and the direction of the incoming neutrino with unprecedented precision allowing for tests of the dark matter nature at very low dark matter masses, in the range of 10-25 GeV. By suppressing the atmospheric background with angular cuts, these techniques would be sensitive to dark matter-nucleon spin-dependent cross sections at the fb level, reaching down to a few ab for the most favorable annihilation channels and detector technology.
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PTOLEMY Collaboration(Betti, M. G. et al), Gariazzo, S., & Pastor, S. (2019). Neutrino physics with the PTOLEMY project: active neutrino properties and the light sterile case. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 07(7), 047–31pp.
Abstract: The PTOLEMY project aims to develop a scalable design for a Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB) detector, the first of its kind and the only one conceived that can look directly at the image of the Universe encoded in neutrino background produced in the first second after the Big Bang. The scope of the work for the next three years is to complete the conceptual design of this detector and to validate with direct measurements that the non-neutrino backgrounds are below the expected cosmological signal. In this paper we discuss in details the theoretical aspects of the experiment and its physics goals. In particular, we mainly address three issues. First we discuss the sensitivity of PTOLEMY to the standard neutrino mass scale. We then study the perspectives of the experiment to detect the CNB via neutrino capture on tritium as a function of the neutrino mass scale and the energy resolution of the apparatus. Finally, we consider an extra sterile neutrino with mass in the eV range, coupled to the active states via oscillations, which has been advocated in view of neutrino oscillation anomalies. This extra state would contribute to the tritium decay spectrum, and its properties, mass and mixing angle, could be studied by analyzing the features in the beta decay electron spectrum.
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