Performance of a large area avalanche photodiode in a liquid xenon ionization a...

• Author(s): Ni, K. ; Aprile, E. ; Day, D. ; Giboni, K. L. ; Lopes, J. A. M. ; Majewski, P. ; Yamashita, M.
• Date: 2005
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/4419
• Origin: Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra
• Subject(s): Liquid xenon; Dark matter
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Scintillation light produced in liquid xenon (LXe) by alpha particles, electrons and gamma-rays was detected with a large area avalanche photodiode (LAAPD) immersed in the liquid. The alpha scintillation yield was measured as a function of applied electric field. We estimate the quantum efficiency of the LAAPD to be 45%. The best energy resolution from the light measurement at zero electric field is 7.5%([sigma]) for 976 keV internal conversion electrons from 207Bi and 2.6%([sigma]) for 5.5 MeV alpha particles from 241Am. The detector used for these measurements was also operated as a gridded ionization chamber to measure the charge yield. We confirm that using a LAAPD in LXe does not introduce impurities which inhibit the drifting of free electrons. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TJM-4GMBG10-3/1/d25c20cfa5c80226398a3f6d387e5973