No Arabic abstract
Electron avalanching in liquid argon is being studied as a function of voltage, pressure, radiation intensity, and the concentrations of certain additives, especially xenon. The avalanches produced in an intense electric field at the tip of a tungsten needle are initiated by ionization from a moveable americium (241Am) gamma ray source. Photons from xenon excimers are detected as photomultiplier signals in coincidence with the current pulse from the needle. In pure liquid argon the avalanche behavior is erratic, but the addition of even a small amount of xenon (>100ppm) stabilizes the performance. Similar attempts with neon (30%) as an additive to argon have been unsuccessful. Tests with higher energy gamma rays (57Co) yield spectra and other performance characteristics quite similar to those using the 241Am source. Two types of signal pulses are commonly observed: a set of pulses that are sensitive to ambient pressure, and a set of somewhat smaller pulses that are not pressure dependent.
The electron scattering has been a vital tool to study the properties of the target nucleus for over five decades. Though, the particular interest on $^{40}$Ar nucleus stemmed from the progress in the accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation experiments. The complexity of nuclei comprising the detectors and their weak response turned out to be one of the major hurdles in the quest of achieving unprecedented precision in these experiments. The challenges are further magnified by the use of Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) in the short- (SBN) and long-baseline (DUNE) neutrino program, with almost non-existence electron-argon scattering data and hence with no empirical basis to test and develop nuclear models for $^{40}$Ar. In light of these challenges, an electron-argon experiment, E12-14-012, was proposed at Jefferson Lab. The experiment has recently successfully completed collecting data for $(e,ep)$ and $(e,e)$ processes, not just on $^{40}$Ar but also on $^{48}$Ti, and $^{12}$C targets. While the analysis is running with full steam, in this contribution, we present a brief overview of the experiment.
The capabilities of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) to reconstruct the spatial and calorimetric information of neutrino events have made them the detectors of choice in a number of experiments, specifically those looking to observe electron neutrino ($ u_e$) appearance. The LArTPC promises excellent background rejection capabilities, especially in this golden channel for both short and long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We present the first experimental observation of electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in the ArgoNeut LArTPC, in the energy range relevant to DUNE and the Fermilab Short Baseline Neutrino Program. We have selected 37 electron candidate events and 274 gamma candidate events, and measured an 80% purity of electrons based on a topological selection. Additionally, we present a of separation of electrons from gammas using calorimetric energy deposition, demonstrating further separation of electrons from background gammas.
We report the measurement of longitudinal electron diffusion coefficients in liquid argon for electric fields between 100 and 2000 V/cm with a gold photocathode as a bright electron source. The measurement principle, apparatus, and data analysis are described. Our results, which are consistent with previous measurements in the region between 100 to 350 V/cm [1] , are systematically higher than the prediction of Atrazhev-Timoshkin[2], and represent the worlds best measurement in the region between 350 to 2000 V/cm. The quantum efficiency of the gold photocathode, the drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion coefficients in gas argon are also presented.
Future giant liquid argon (LAr) time projection chambers (TPCs) require a purity of better than 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) to allow the ionised electrons to drift without significant capture by any electronegative impurities. We present a comprehensive study of the effects of electronegative impurity on gaseous and liquid argon scintillation light, an analysis of the efficacy of various purification chemicals, as well as the Liverpool LAr setup, which utilises a novel re-circulation purification system. Of the impurities tested - Air, O_2, H_2O, N_2 and CO_2 in the range of between 0.01 ppm to 1000 ppm - H_2O was found to have the most profound effect on gaseous argon scintillation light, and N_2 was found to have the least. Additionally, a correlation between the slow component decay time and the total energy deposited with 0.01 ppm - 100 ppm O_2 contamination levels in liquid argon has been established. The superiority of molecular sieves over anhydrous complexes at absorbing Ar gas, N_2 gas and H_2O vapour has been quantified using BET isotherm analysis. The efficiency of Cu and P_2O5 at removing O_2 and H_2O impurities from 1 bar N6 argon gas at both room temperature and -130 ^oC was investigated and found to be high. A novel, highly scalable LAr re-circulation system has been developed. The complete system, consisting of a motorised bellows pump operating in liquid and a purification cartridge, were designed and built in-house. The system was operated successfully over many days and achieved a re-circulation rate of 27 litres/hour and high purity.
A dedicated test of the effects of Nitrogen contamination in liquid Argon has been performed at the INFN-Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS, Italy) within the WArP R&D program. A detector has been designed and assembled for this specific task and connected to a system for the injection of controlled amounts of gaseous Nitrogen into the liquid Argon. Purpose of the test is to detect the reduction of the Ar scintillation light emission as a function of the amount of the Nitrogen contaminant injected in the Argon volume. A wide concentration range, spanning from about 10^-1 ppm up to about 10^3 ppm, has been explored. Measurements have been done with electrons in the energy range of minimum ionizing particles (gamma-conversion from radioactive sources). Source spectra at different Nitrogen contaminations are analyzed, showing sensitive reduction of the scintillation yield at increasing concentrations. The rate constant of the light quenching process induced by Nitrogen in liquid Ar has been found to be k(N2)=0.11 micros^-1 ppm^-1. Direct PMT signals acquisition at high time resolution by fast Waveform recording allowed to extract with high precision the main characteristics of the scintillation light emission in pure and contaminated LAr. In particular, the decreasing behavior in lifetime and relative amplitude of the slow component is found to be appreciable from O(1 ppm) of Nitrogen concentrations.