Search

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are photosensors widely used for imaging in a variety of high energy and nuclear physics experiments. In noble-gas detectors for double-beta decay and dark matter experiments, SiPMs are attractive photosensors for imaging. However they are insensitive to the VUV scintillation emitted by the noble gases (xenon and argon). This difficulty is overcome in the NEXT experiment by coating the SiPMs with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) to convert the VUV light into visible light. TPB requires stringent storage and operational conditions to prevent its degradation by environmental agents. The development of UV sensitive SiPMs is thus of utmost interest for experiments using electroluminescence of noble-gas detectors. It is in particular an important issue for a robust and background free neutrinoless double-beta experiment with xenon gas aimed by NEXT. The photon detection efficiency (PDE) of UV-enhanced SiPMs provided by Hamamatsu was determined for light in the range 250-500 nm. The PDE of standard SiPMs of the same model (S10362-33-50C), coated and non-coated with TPB, was also determined for comparison. In the UV range 250-350 nm, the PDE of the standard SiPM is shown to decrease strongly, down to about 3%. The UV-enhanced SiPM without window is shown to have the maximum PDE of 44% at 325 nm and 30% at 250 nm. The PDE of the UV-enhanced SiPM with silicon resin window has a similar trend in the UV range, although it is about 30% lower. The TPB-coated SiPM has shown to have about 6 times higher PDE than the non-coated SiPM in the range 250-315 nm. This is however below the performance of the UV-enhanced prototypes in the same wavelength range. Imaging in noble-gas detectors using UV-enhanced SiPMs is discussed., Comment: Presented at the IWORID 2012 conference. Submitted to JINST

NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the Xe-136 isotope using a TPC filled with a 100 kg of high-pressure gaseous xenon, with 90% isotopic enrichment. The experiment will take place at the Laboratorio Subterr\'aneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. NEXT-100 uses electroluminescence (EL) technology for energy measurement with a resolution better than 1% FWHM. The gaseous xenon in the TPC additionally allows the tracks of the two beta particles to be recorded, which are expected to have a length of up to 30 cm at 10 bar pressure. The ability to record the topological signature of the neutrinoless double-beta events provides a powerful background rejection factor for the double-beta experiment. In this paper, we present a novel 3D imaging concept using SiPMs coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) for the EL read out and its first implementation in NEXT-DEMO, a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. The design and the first characterization measurements of the NEXT-DEMO SiPM tracking system are presented. The SiPM response uniformity over the tracking plane drawn from its gain map is shown to be better than 4%. An automated active control system for the stabilization of the SiPMs gain was developed, based on the voltage supply compensation of the gain drifts. The gain is shown to be stabilized within 0.2% relative variation around its nominal value, provided by Hamamatsu, in a temperature range of 10 degree C. The noise level from the electronics and the SiPM dark noise is shown to lay typically below the level of 10 photoelectrons (pe) in the ADC. Hence, a detection threshold at 10 pe is set for the acquisition of the tracking signals. The ADC full dynamic range (4096 channels) is shown to be adequate for signal levels of up to 200 pe/microsecond, which enables recording most of the tracking signals., Comment: Submitted to JINST

In this Technical Design Report (TDR) we describe the NEXT-100 detector that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (bbonu) in Xe-136 at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. The document formalizes the design presented in our Conceptual Design Report (CDR): an electroluminescence time projection chamber, with separate readout planes for calorimetry and tracking, located, respectively, behind cathode and anode. The detector is designed to hold a maximum of about 150 kg of xenon at 15 bar, or 100 kg at 10 bar. This option builds in the capability to increase the total isotope mass by 50% while keeping the operating pressure at a manageable level. The readout plane performing the energy measurement is composed of Hamamatsu R11410-10 photomultipliers, specially designed for operation in low-background, xenon-based detectors. Each individual PMT will be isolated from the gas by an individual, pressure resistant enclosure and will be coupled to the sensitive volume through a sapphire window. The tracking plane consists in an array of Hamamatsu S10362-11-050P MPPCs used as tracking pixels. They will be arranged in square boards holding 64 sensors (8 times8) with a 1-cm pitch. The inner walls of the TPC, the sapphire windows and the boards holding the MPPCs will be coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), a wavelength shifter, to improve the light collection., Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures, 5 tables

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are the photon detectors chosen for the tracking readout in NEXT, a neutrinoless {\beta}{\beta} decay experiment which uses a high pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber (TPC). The reconstruction of event track and topology in this gaseous detector is a key handle for background rejection. Among the commercially available sensors that can be used for tracking, SiPMs offer important advantages, mainly high gain, ruggedness, cost-effectiveness and radio-purity. Their main drawback, however, is their non sensitivity in the emission spectrum of the xenon scintillation (peak at 175 nm). This is overcome by coating these sensors with the organic wavelength shifter tetraphenyl butadienne (TPB). In this paper we describe the protocol developed for coating the SiPMs with TPB and the measurements performed for characterizing the coatings as well as the performance of the coated sensors in the UV-VUV range., Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Instrumentation on december 26th 2011

We propose an EASY (Electroluminescent ApparatuS of high Yield) and SOFT (Separated Optimized FuncTion) time-projection chamber for the NEXT experiment, that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (bb0nu) in Xe-136. Our experiment must be competitive with the new generation of bb0nu searches already in operation or in construction. This requires a detector with very good energy resolution (<1%), very low background con- tamination (1E-4 counts/(keV \bullet kg \bullet y)) and large target mass. In addition, it needs to be operational as soon as possible. The design described here optimizes energy resolution thanks to the use of proportional electroluminescent amplification (EL); it is compact, as the Xe gas is under high pressure; and it allows the measurement of the topological signature of the event to further reduce the background contamination. The SOFT design uses different sensors for tracking and calorimetry. We propose the use of SiPMs (MPPCs) coated with a suitable wavelength shifter for the tracking, and the use of radiopure photomultipliers for the measurement of the energy and the primary scintillation needed to estimate the t0. This design provides the best possible energy resolution compared with other NEXT designs based on avalanche gain devices. The baseline design is an Asymmetric Neutrino Gas EL apparatus (ANGEL), which was already outlined in the NEXT LOI. ANGEL is conceived to be easy to fabricate. It requires very little R&D and most of the proposed solutions have already been tested in the NEXT-1 prototypes. Therefore, the detector can be ready by 2013. In this Conceptual Design Report (CDR) we discuss first the physics case, present a full design of the detector, describe the NEXT-1 EL prototypes and their initial results, and outline a project to build a detector with 100 kg of enriched xenon to be installed in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in 2013.