Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT2022)

Simulation studies on radon daughter plateout background in nEXO

Jun 15, 2022, 1:55 PM

15m

EEP 252 (South Dakota Mines)

Oral Presentation Experiment Backgrounds, Models, Simulations LRT 2022 - presentations

Speaker

Hei Man (Raymond) Tsang (University of Alabama)

Description

nEXO is a proposed search for neutrinoless double beta decay of ${}^{136}$Xe. The experiment is planning to utilize isotopically enriched xenon both as source and detection medium. Radon daughters produced by radon decays in the air can plate out on material surfaces during detector assembly and handling. The alpha particles they emit can interact with low-Z materials nearby and produce fast neutrons. These neutrons can in turn produce ${}^{137}$Xe when captured by ${}^{136}$Xe, contained in the nEXO detector medium. The subsequent beta decay of ${}^{137}$Xe (Q = 4173 keV) can mimic $0\nu \beta \beta$ in nEXO. In this talk, I will describe simulation studies performed to estimate the background in nEXO produced by radon daughters. I will also discuss the allowed amounts of radon daughters on material surfaces in order to meet nEXO's stringent background requirements.

Presentation materials

tsang-lrt2022-nexo-alphan.pdf

Peer reviewing

Paper

Accepted on Dec 8, 2022 by Richard Schnee

Simulation_studies_on_radon_daughter_plate_out_induced_background_in_nEXO (1).pdf