Neutron-gamma discrimination of CsI(Na) crystals for dark matter searches


Abstract in English

The luminescent properties of CsI(Na) crystals are studied in this report. By using a TDS3054C oscilloscope with a sampling frequency of 5 GS/s, we find out that nuclear recoil signals are dominated by very fast light pulse with a decay time of ~20 ns, while {gamma}-ray signals have a decay time of ~600 ns. The wavelength of nuclear recoil and {gamma}-ray signals are also different. The study of n/{gamma} separation shows that the rejection factor can reach an order of 10-7 with signal efficiency more than 80% at an equivalent electron recoil energy of 20 keV or more. Such a property makes CsI(Na) an ideal candidate for dark matter searches.

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