%0 Journal Article
%T Primary and secondary scintillation measurements in a Xenon Gas Proportional Scintillation Counter
%A Fernandes, L. M. P.
%A Freitas, E. D. C.
%A Ball, M.
%A Gomez-Cadenas, J. J.
%A Monteiro, C. M. B.
%A Yahlali, N.
%A Nygren, D.
%A dos Santos, J. M. F.
%J Journal of Instrumentation
%D 2010
%V 5
%I Iop Publishing Ltd
%@ 1748-0221
%G English
%F Fernandes_etal2010
%O ISI:000283796100003
%O exported from refbase (https://references.ific.uv.es/refbase/show.php?record=255), last updated on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:51:44 +0000
%X NEXT is a new experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay using a 100 kg radio-pure high-pressure gaseous xenon TPC. The detector requires excellent energy resolution, which can be achieved in a Xe TPC with electroluminescence readout. Hamamatsu R8520-06SEL photomultipliers are good candidates for the scintillation readout. The performance of this photomultiplier, used as VUV photosensor in a gas proportional scintillation counter, was investigated. Initial results for the detection of primary and secondary scintillation produced as a result of the interaction of 5.9 keV X-rays in gaseous xenon, at room temperature and at pressures up to 3 bar, are presented. An energy resolution of 8.0% was obtained for secondary scintillation produced by 5.9 keV X-rays. No significant variation of the primary scintillation was observed for different pressures (1, 2 and 3 bar) and for electric fields up to 0.8 V cm(-1) torr(-1) in the drift region, demonstrating negligible recombination luminescence. A primary scintillation yield of 81 +/- 7 photons was obtained for 5.9 keV X-rays, corresponding to a mean energy of 72 +/- 6 eV to produce a primary scintillation photon in xenon.
%K Interaction of radiation with matter
%K Gaseous detectors
%K Photon detectors for UV
%K visible and IR photons (vacuum) (photomultipliers
%K HPDs
%K others)
%R 10.1088/1748-0221/5/09/P09006
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.2719
%U https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/5/09/P09006
%P P09006 - 15pp