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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Ionization Measurements of SuperCDMS SNOLAB 100 mm Diameter Germanium Crystals

Scaling cryogenic Germanium-based dark matter detectors to probe smaller WIMP-nucleon cross-sections poses significant challenges in the forms of increased labor, cold hardware, warm electronics and heat load. The development of larger crystals alleviates these issues. The results of ionization tests with two 100 mm diameter, 33 mm thick cylindrical detector-grade Germanium crystals are presented here. Through these results the potential of using such crystals in the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) SNOLAB experiment is demonstrated.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lowering the Energy Threshold of the CUORE Experiment: Benefits in the Surface Alpha Events Reconstruction

CUORE is a tonne-scale cryogenic experiment located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso that exploits bolometric technique to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130 Te. Thanks to its very low background and large mass, CUORE is also a powerful tool to study a broad class of phenomena, such as solar axions and WIMP scattering. The ability to conduct such sensitive searches crucially depends on the energy threshold, which has to be kept as low as possible. Here, we show how the trigger algorithm affects the sensitivity to low-energy phenomena and the interpretation of the energy spectrum. In particular, we focus on the impact that the trigger algorithm has on the identification of the coincidence events among different crystals and, consequently, on the reconstruction of the background.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Identification of Radiopure Titanium for the LZ Dark Matter Experiment and Future Rare Event Searches

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector containing a total of 10 tonnes of liquid xenon within a double-vessel cryostat. The large mass and proximity of the cryostat to the active detector volume demand the use of material with extremely low intrinsic radioactivity. We report on the radioassay campaign conducted to identify suitable metals, the determination of factors limiting radiopure production, and the selection of titanium for construction of the LZ cryostat and other detector components. This titanium has been measured with activities of 238 U e < 1.6 mBq/kg, 238 U l < 0.09 mBq/kg, 232 Th e = 0.28 ± 0.03 mBq/kg, 232 Th l = 0.25 ± 0.02 mBq/kg, 40 K < 0.54 mBq/kg, and 60 Co < 0.02 mBq/kg (68% CL). Such low intrinsic activities, which are some of the lowest ever reported for titanium, enable its use for future dark matter and other rare event searches. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to assess the expected background contribution from the LZ cryostat with this radioactivity. As a result, in 1,000 days of WIMP search exposure of a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, the cryostat will contribute only a mean background of 0.160 ± 0.001(stat) ± 0.030(sys) counts.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

The LUX prototype detector: Heat exchanger development

The LUX (large underground xenon) detector is a two-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) designed to search for WIMP–nucleon dark matter interactions. As with all noble element detectors, continuous purification of the detector medium is essential to produce a large (> 1 ms) electron lifetime; this is necessary for efficient measurement of the electron signal which in turn is essential for achieving robust discrimination of signal from background events. Here, we describe the development of a novel purification system deployed in a prototype detector. The results from the operation of this prototype indicated heat exchange with an efficiency above 94% up to a flow rate of 42 slpm, allowing for an electron drift length greater than 1 m to be achieved in approximately 2 days and sustained for the duration of the testing period.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

A liquid scintillation detector for radioassay of gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator for the LZ Outer Detector

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. We report on the design and performance of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) “Screener”, a small liquid scintillator detector consisting of ≈23 kg of LAB-based gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator (GdLS) to be used in the LZ Outer Detector. The Outer Detector will be filled with 17.3 tonnes of GdLS and will surround the central liquid xenon time projection chamber of LZ. Its primary function will be to tag neutron events in the liquid xenon which could mimic a WIMP dark matter signal. To meet the deadtime requirements for the Outer Detector, the radioimpurity levels in the GdLS must be kept below ≲0.07 mBq/kg. This background level corresponds to a rate of ≈50Hz above an energy threshold of 100 keV. The Screener was operated in the ultra-low-background environment of the former LUX water shield in the Davis Laboratory at the Sanford Underground Research Facility for radioassay of the GdLS. Careful selection of detector materials and use of ultra-low-background PMTs allows the measurement of a variety of radioimpurities. The 14C/12C ratio in the scintillator is measured to be (2.83±0.06(stat.)±0.01(sys.))×10 -17 . Use of pulse shape discrimination allows the concentration of isotopes throughout the 238U, 235U, and 232Th chains to be measured by fitting the collected spectra from α and β events. We find that equilibrium is broken in the 238U and 232Th chains and that a significant portion of the contamination in the GdLS results from decays in the 227Ac subchain of the 235U series. Predictions for the singles rate in the Outer Detector are presented. The rate from radioimpurities above 100 keV in the GdLS is estimated to be 97.9±6.4Hz, with 65.5±1.9Hz resulting from α-decays.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design and production of the high voltage electrode grids and electron extraction region for the LZ dual-phase xenon time projection chamber

The dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) is a powerful tool for direct-detection experiments searching for WIMP dark matter, other dark matter models, and neutrinoless double-beta decay. Successful operation of such a TPC is critically dependent on the ability to hold high electric fields in the bulk liquid, across the liquid surface, and in the gas. Careful design and construction of the electrodes used to establish these fields is therefore required. We present the design and production of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment's high-voltage electrodes, a set of four woven mesh wire grids. Grid design drivers are discussed, with emphasis placed on design of the electron extraction region. Here, we follow this with a description of the grid production process and a discussion of steps taken to validate the LZ grids prior to integration into the TPC.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Molecular excitations: a new way to detect Dark Matter

We believe that the Dark Matter (DM) search should be expanded into the domain of detectors sensitive to molecular excitations, and so that we should create detectors which are more sensitive to collisions with very light WIMPs. In this paper we investigate in detail diatomic molecules, such as fused silica material with large OH-molecule content, and water molecules. Presently, we do not have suitable low-cost IR detectors to observe single photons, however some OH-molecular excitations extend to visible and UV wavelengths and can be measured by bialkali photocathodes. There are many other chemical substances with diatomic molecules, or more complex oil molecules, which could be also investigated. This idea invites searches in experiments having large target volumes of such materials coupled to a large array of single-photon detectors with bialkali or infrared-sensitive photocathodes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Dark matter at colliders

We show that colliders can impose strong constraints on dark matter. We take an effective field theory approach where dark matter couples to quarks and gluons through high dimensional operators. We discuss limits on interactions of dark matter and hadronic matter from the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). For spin-independent scattering, the LHC limits are stronger than those from direct detection experiments for light WIMPs. For spin-dependent scattering, the LHC sets better limits over much of parameter space.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Control of contamination of radon-daughters in the DEAP-3600 acrylic vessel

DEAP-3600 is a 3600kg single-phase liquid-argon dark matter detector under construction at SNOLAB with a sensitivity of 10{sup −46}cm{sup 2} for a 100 GeV WIMP. The argon is held an an acrylic vessel coated with wavelength-shifting 1,1,4,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene (TPB). Acrylic was chosen because it is optically transparent at the shifted wavelength of 420 nm; an effective neutron shield; and physically strong. With perfect cleaning of the acrylic surface before data taking the irreducible background is that from bulk {sup 210}Pb activity that is near the surface. To achieve a background rate of 0.01 events in the 1000-kg fiducial volume per year of exposure, the allowed limit of Pb-210 in the bulk acrylic is 31 mBq/tonne (= 1.2 × 10{sup −20}g/g). We discuss how pure acrylic was procured and manufactured into a complete vessel paying particular attention to exposure to radon during all processes. In particular field work at the acrylic panel manufacturer, RPT Asia, and acrylic monomer supplier, Thai MMA Co. Ltd, in Thailand is described. The increased diffusion of radon during annealing the acrylic at 90C as well as techniques to mitigate against this are described.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Background considerations for SuperCDMS

Rejection and protection from background is a key issue for the next generation SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment that will have a cross-section sensitivity of better than 8 × 10{sup −46} cm{sup 2} for spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interactions. This paper presents the details of the methods used to reject electromagnetic backgrounds using the new iZIP detectors that are currently operated in the Soudan Underground Laboratory, MN and the methods the collaboration is investigating to protect against neutron background in the next generation SuperCDMS experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Measurement and modeling of muon-induced neutrons in LSM in application for direct dark matter searches

Due to a very low event rate expected in direct dark matter search experiments, a good understanding of every background component is crucial. Muon-induced neutrons constitute a prominent background, since neutrons lead to nuclear recoils and thus can mimic a potential dark matter signal. EDELWEISS is a Ge-bolometer experiment searching for WIMP dark matter. It is located in the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM, France). We have measured muon-induced neutrons by means of a neutron counter based on Gd-loaded liquid scintillator. Studies of muon-induced neutrons are presented and include development of the appropriate MC model based on Geant4 and analysis of a 1000-days measurement campaign in LSM. We find a good agreement between measured rates of muon-induced neutrons and those predicted by the developed model with full event topology. The impact of the neutron background on current EDELWEISS data-taking as well as for next generation experiments such as EURECA is briefly discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Lowering the threshold in the DAMA dark matter detector

We look at two improvements related to the DAMA/LIBRA dark matter detector. We show how using a more optimized binning scheme of the current data can lead to significantly tighter contraints on the compatible regions of the WIMP parameter space. In addition, the PMT’s of the detector were upgraded in 2010, allowing the low energy threshold to be lowered from 2 keVee to 1 keVee. We examine the implications for the dark matter interpretion of the DAMA modulation with data in this new energy region. Specifically, we focus on how well the degeneracy between the low mass and high mass regions can be removed by this new data. We find that the lower threshold data should rule out one of the two mass ranges in the spin-independent case at a minimum of the 2.6σ level in the worst case scenario.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dark matter searches with the CDMS II experiment

The CDMS II experiment ran between 2003 and 2009. A total of 30 germanium and silicon ZIP detectors were operated, producing a high quality set of data that has been analyzed for evidence of and placed leading constraints on standard, low-mass, electron-recoil, and annually modulating WIMP interactions. This article will describe the general operation principles behind the CDMS detectors, report on the results of major Ge and Si detector analyses, and describe the current and future activities of the SuperCDMS program.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Liquid xenon purification, de-radonation (and de-kryptonation)

Liquid xenon detectors are at the forefront of rare event physics, including searches for neutrino-less double beta decay and WIMP dark matter. The xenon for these experiments needs to be purified from chemical impurities such as electronegative atoms and molecules, which absorb ionization electrons, and VUV (178 nm) scintillation light-absorbing chemical species. In addition, superb purification from radioactive impurities is required. Particularly challenging are radioactive noble isotopes ({sup 85}Kr,{sup 39,42}Ar,{sup 220,222}Rn). Radon is a particularly universal problem, due to the extended decay sequence of its daughters and its ubiquitous presence in detector materials. Purification and de-radonation of liquid xenon are addressed with particular focus on the experience gained with the EXO-200 neutrino-less double beta decay detector.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

The radiopurity.org material database

The database at http://www.radiopurity.org is the world's largest public database of material radio-purity measurements. These measurements are used by members of the low-background physics community to build experiments that search for neutrinos, neutrinoless double-beta decay, WIMP dark matter, and other exciting physics. Here this paper summarizes the current status and the future plan of this database.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Constraints on Majorana dark matter from a fourth lepton family

We study the possibility of dark matter in the form of heavy neutrinos from a fourth lepton family with helicity suppressed couplings such that dark matter is produced thermally via annihilations in the early Universe. We present all possible constraints for this scenario coming from LHC and collider physics, underground direct detectors, neutrino telescopes, and indirect astrophysical searches. Although we embed the WIMP candidate within a model of composite dynamics, the majority of our results are model independent and applicable to all models where heavy neutrinos with suppressed couplings account for the dark matter abundance.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Harmonics in the dark-matter sky: directional detection in the Fourier-Bessel basis

Details about the velocity distribution of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter in our galaxy may be revealed by nuclear-recoil detectors with directional sensitivity. Previous studies have assumed that the velocity distribution takes a simple functional form characterized by a small number of parameters. More recent work has shown that basis-function expansions may allow for more general parameterization; such an approach has been considered for both the one-dimensional speed and momentum distributions, and also for three-dimensional velocity distributions obeying certain equilibrium conditions. In this work, I extend this basis-function approach to allow for arbitrary velocity distributions by working in the Fourier-Bessel basis, deriving an analytic expression for the directional recoil spectrum. Such an approach is completely general, and may be useful if the velocity distribution is too complex to be characterized by simple functional forms or is not completely virialized. Results concerning the three-dimensional Radon transform of the Fourier-Bessel basis functions may be of general interest for tomographic applications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Extended gamma-ray emission from Coy Dark Matter

We show that it is possible for WIMP dark matter to produce a large signal in indirect dark matter searches without producing signals elsewhere. We illustrate our point by fitting the Fermi-LAT extended galactic gamma-ray excess with a simple model of Dirac dark matter that annihilates primarily into b quarks via a pseudoscalar. Current collider constraints are weak while the 14 TeV LHC run will constrain a limited portion of the parameter space. No signal is expected in additional indirect searches or at future direct detection experiments. Our results emphasise the importance of fully understanding potential indirect signals of dark matter as they may provide the only information about the dark matter particle.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗