UV-Transparent Crystal Xenon for Particle Detection: Freezing Process and Scaling Projections

ORAL

Abstract

Liquid xenon (LXe) detectors have reached world-leading sensitivities in the ever-going search for WIMP dark matter, though radioactive decays via the radon chain continue to be a leading background. Crystal xenon (CXe) as a medium prevents the diffusion of radon, potentially making radon decays subdominant to neutrinos in a tonne-scale detector such as LUX-ZEPLIN. We present a process for consistently freezing UV-transparent xenon crystals, established through experimental trials in a multi-kilogram-scale detector. We extrapolate measurements of freezing time versus crystal mass to evaluate the feasibility of a future tonne-scale crystal xenon particle detector.

*Funding for this work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics under Contract Number DE-SC0025357

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Presenters

  • Jackson Rowland

    • University of Texas at Austin

Authors

  • Jackson Rowland

    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Dan J Hunt

    • The University of Texas at Austin
    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Chloe O'Brien

    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Gregory Sehr

    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Scott Kravitz

    • University of Texas at Austin