Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2016 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 61, Number 13
Thursday–Sunday, October 13–16, 2016; Vancouver, BC, Canada
Session PH: Mini-symposium on Instrumentation for Physics Beyond the Standard Model IIBMini-Symposium
|
Hide Abstracts |
Chair: Vince Cianciolo, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Room: Pavilion Ballroom C |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
PH.00001: Measurement cells of the Spallation Neutron Source neutron Electric Dipole Moment experiment Kent Leung The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM) experiment will use 3 L rectangular measurement cells filled with superfluid helium at 0.3 - 0.5 K with a $\sim 10^{-10}$ fraction of polarized $^3$He. These cells are made from 0.5 in thick PMMA plates, coated with a mixture of deuterated polystyrene and deuterated tetraphenyl butadiene and then glued together with deuterated acrylic cement. The experiment requires the cells to be: non-magnetic, non-conducting, fluorescent at the inner surface for VUV photons, optically transparent, cryogenic-friendly, polarized $^3$He friendly, and have long ultracold neutron (UCN) storage times. The successful production of full-sized cells and how these cells address each of the above requirements, will be presented. Focus will be given on recent UCN storage tests of several cells measured between 90 K to 20 K. These results demonstrate the cryogenic robustness of these cells and UCN loss $f$-factors of $\sim 2 \times 10^{-5}$, better than beryllium at low temperatures. A previous problem of gaps or uncovered patches exposed on the inside of the cell has been resolved. Exploratory work on new polymer coatings that could improve our cells further will also be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
PH.00002: Progress on Study of Electric Breakdown in Superfluid Liquid Helium for the SNS nEDM Experiment Wanchun Wei, Douglas Beck, Nathaniel Bouman, Vince Cianciolo, Steven Clayton, Christopher Crawford, Scott Currie, William Griffith, Takeyasu Ito, John Ramsey, Richardo Schmid, George Seidel, Shirvel Stanislaus, Zhaowen Tang, Daniel Wagner, Steven Williamson, Weijun Yao The SNS nEDM collaboration is developing an experiment to search for the neutron's electric dipole moment (EDM) to be run at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As the experimental sensitivity depends linearly on the strength of applied electric field, it is of critical importance to achieve a strong and stable electric field in the storage region of ultracold neutrons (UCN) in superfluid helium. However, the phenomenon of electric breakdown in liquid helium is poorly understood, and as such a major R{\&}D effort is under way.~We have developed an apparatus to test various coating materials on electrodes of 12 cm diameter and study breakdown in liquid helium at temperatures as low as 0.4 K and pressures between saturated vapor pressure and 1 atm. Meanwhile, a small test apparatus has been used to study various aspects of breakdown phenomenon.~In this talk, the present status of our effort, implication of findings on the SNS nEDM experiment and future plans will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
PH.00003: 3-dimensionally integrated photo-detector for neutrino physics and beyond Fabrice Retiere Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) are a promising solution for the detection of scintillation light of liquid Xenon and Argon in applications requiring minimum radioactivity content such as neutrinoless double beta decay. The nEXO experiment in particular is planning to use SiPM planes covering 5 m$^2$ for the detection of the light emitted within 5tons of liquid Xenon. The 3-dimensionally digital integrated SiPMs (3DdSiPMs) is an emerging technology that if successful would challenge the analog SiPM technology. Indeed, by combining separate photo-detector and electronics chips within a single package, 3DdSiPM achieve excellent performances for photon counting and time stamping, while dissipating minimum power. Being mostly based on high purity silicon chips, 3DdSiPMs are also expected to achieve excellent radiopurity.The development of 3DdSiPMs for applications in liquid Xenon is expected to progress rapidly by altering the design of the first successful chip assembly developed for medical imaging, focusing on minimizing power dissipation and large area $(>$cm$^2$ ) scaling. In this talk we will describe the 3DdSiPM concept a solution for "light to bit conversion" within a single package and show how it may revolutionize light detection in noble-gas liquids and beyond. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
PH.00004: Development of Solid Xenon Bolometers Michelle Dolinski, Erin Hansen Cryogenic liquid xenon detectors have become a popular technology in the search for rare events, such as dark matter interactions and neutrinoless double beta decay. The power of liquid xenon detector technology is in the combination of ionization and scintillation signals, resulting in particle discrimination and improved energy resolution over the ionization-only signal. The improved energy resolution results from a microscopic anti-correlation phenomenon that has not been described from first principles. Solid xenon bolometers operated at $\sim10$~mK are expected to have excellent counting statistics in the phonon channel, with energy resolution of 0.1\% or better. This additional energy channel may offer the final piece of the puzzle in understanding liquid xenon detector energy response. We present work toward the development and characterization of solid xenon bolometers at Drexel University. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
PH.00005: Quantum dots and liquid scintillators in neutrino-less double beta decay searches Diana Gooding, Jon Ouellet, Brian Naranjo, Lindley Winslow Liquid-scintillator detectors make neutrino measurements at around 1 MeV with energy resolution of \textasciitilde 5{\%} -a factor of two better than water Cherenkov detectors, and just as scalable from 1 ton to 1 kiloton. At this energy, however, the scintillation light is isotropic and cannot provide enough information to reconstruct the trajectories of outgoing particles. While most of the Cherenkov light produced is absorbed and reemitted by the scintillator, a fraction of it propagates through the detector, retaining its directional information. Separating these scintillation and Cherenkov signals requires fast photo detectors and an ability to tune the spectral response of the scintillator. Along this front, quantum dots have emerged as promising wavelength shifters, since their size and thus fluorescence properties are highly tunable. Most importantly, these quantum dots can be made of candidate isotopes for neutrino-less double beta decay, and then suspended in standard scintillators like linear alkyl benzenes. This talk outlines the optical characterization and performance of quantum-dot-doped liquid scintillator. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
PH.00006: Cherenkov and scintillation light separation on the CheSS experiment Javier Caravaca, Benjamin Land, Freija Descamps, Gabriel D. Orebi Gann Separation of the scintillation and Cherenkov light produced in liquid scintillators enables outstanding capabilities for future particle detectors, the most relevant being: particle directionality information in a low energy threshold detector and improved particle identification. The CheSS experiment uses an array of small, fast photomultipliers (PMTs) and state-of-the-art electronics to demonstrate the reconstruction of a Cherenkov ring in liquid scintillator using two techniques: based on the photon density and using the photon hit time information. A charged particle ionizing a scintillation medium produces a prompt Cherenkov cone and late isotropic scintillation light, typically delayed by several ns. The fast response of our PMTs and DAQ provides a precision well below the ns level, making possible the time separation. Furthermore, the usage of the new developed water-based liquid scintillators (WbLS) enhances the separation since it allows tuning of the Cherenkov/Scintillation ratio. Latest results on the separation for pure liquid scintillators and WbLS will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
PH.00007: Barium Tagging in Liquid Xenon for the nEXO Experiment Scott Kravitz nEXO is a next-generation experiment designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of xenon-136 in a liquid xenon time projection chamber. Positive observation of this decay would determine the neutrino to be a Majorana particle, as well as measure the absolute neutrino mass scale. In order to greatly reduce background contributions to this search, the collaboration is developing several ``barium tagging'' techniques to recover and identify the decay daughter, barium-136. Barium tagging may be available for a second phase of nEXO operation, allowing for neutrino mass sensitivity beyond the inverted mass hierarchy. Tagging methods for this phase include barium-ion capture on a probe with identification by resonance ionization laser spectroscopy. Inclusion of an argon ion gun in this system allows for improved cleaning and preparation of the barium deposition substrate, with recent results reported in this presentation. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:54AM - 12:06PM |
PH.00008: Barium Tagging in Solid Xenon for the nEXO Experiment Christopher Chambers, Adam Craycraft, Timothy Walton, William Fairbank The proposed nEXO experiment utilizes a tonne-scale liquid xenon time projection chamber to search for neutrinoless double beta decay in xenon-136. Positive observation of this decay would determine the nature of the neutrino to be a Majorana particle, as well as measure the absolute neutrino mass scale. A critical concern for any rare decay search is reducing or eliminating backgrounds that cannot be distinguished from signal. A powerful background discrimination technique is positive identification of the daughter atom of the decay, in this case barium. This technique, called ``barium tagging'' may be available for a second phase of nEXO operation, allowing for neutrino mass sensitivity beyond the inverted mass hierarchy. Development is underway on a scheme to capture the barium daughter in solid xenon with a cryogenic probe and detect the barium by laser-induced fluorescence inside the solid xenon sample. This presentation reports results on imaging of single barium atoms frozen in a solid xenon matrix, as well as the progress on the freezing and removal of a solid xenon sample from liquid xenon. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700