Engineering topics

Dilling, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Dilling, J..

23 records · Page 2

DOE OSTI2020

Direct Measurement of the Be 7 L / K Capture Ratio in Ta-Based Superconducting Tunnel Junctions

We report a high-statistics measurement of the L / K orbital electron capture ratio in 7 Be embedded in cryogenic Ta. The thin Ta film formed part of a high-resolution superconducting tunnel junction radiation detector that was used to identify the signals from different decay channels. The measured L/K capture ratio of 0.070(7) is significantly larger than the only previous measurement of this quantity and the theoretical predictions that include in-medium effects. This value is a uniquely sensitive probe of the 1s and 2s orbital overlaps with the nucleus and is of relevance to nuclear and atomic physics, as well as Li production in novae and other astrophysical scenarios. Furthermore, this is the first experiment that uses superconducting tunnel junctions for nuclear-recoil detection, opening a new experimental avenue for low-energy precision measurements with rare isotopes.

6 ≤ A ≤ 19↗

DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of the scintillation and ionization response of liquid xenon at MeV energies in the EXO-200 experiment

In this work, liquid xenon (LXe) is employed in a number of current and future detectors for rare event searches. We use the EXO-200 experimental data to measure the absolute scintillation and ionization yields generated by γ interactions from 228 Th (2615 keV), 226 Ra (1764 keV), and 60 Co (1332 keV and 1173 keV) calibration sources, over a range of electric fields. The W value that defines the recombination-independent energy scale is measured to be 11.5±0.5 (syst.) ±0.1 (stat.) eV. These data are also used to measure the recombination fluctuations in the number of electrons and photons produced by the calibration sources at the MeV scale, which deviate from extrapolations of lower-energy data. Additionally, a semiempirical model for the energy resolution of the detector is developed, which is used to constrain the recombination efficiency, i.e., the fraction of recombined electrons that result in the emission of a detectable photon. Detailed measurements of the absolute charge and light yields for MeV-scale electron recoils are important for predicting the performance of future neutrinoless double β -decay detectors.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of the Spectral Shape of the $β$-Decay of 137 Xe to the Ground State of 137 Cs in EXO-200 and Comparison with Theory

Herein we report on a comparison between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured spectra of the first-forbidden nonunique $β$-decay transition 137 Xe ( 7/2 - ) → 137 Cs ( 7/2 + ) . The experimental data were acquired by the EXO-200 experiment during a deployment of an AmBe neutron source. The ultralow background environment of EXO-200, together with dedicated source deployment and analysis procedures, allowed for collection of a pure sample of the decays, with an estimated signal to background ratio of more than 99 to 1 in the energy range from 1075 to 4175 keV. In addition to providing a rare and accurate measurement of the first-forbidden nonunique $β$-decay shape, this work constitutes a novel test of the calculated electron spectral shapes in the context of the reactor antineutrino anomaly and spectral bump.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Mass measurements of neutron-rich gallium isotopes refine production of nuclei of the first r -process abundance peak in neutron-star merger calculations

We report mass measurements of neutron-rich Ga isotopes 80–85 Ga with TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science. The measurements determine the masses of 80–83 Ga in good agreement with previous measurements. Here, the masses of 84 Ga and 85 Ga were measured for the first time. Uncertainties between 25 and 48 keV were reached. The new mass values reduce the nuclear uncertainties associated with the production of A ≈ 84 isotopes by the r-process for astrophysical conditions that might be consistent with a binary neutron star (BNS) merger producing a blue kilonova. Our nucleosynthesis simulations confirm that BNS merger may contribute to the first abundance peak under moderate neutron-rich conditions with electron fractions Y e = 0.35–0.38.

59 ≤ A ≤ 89↗

DOE OSTI2020

Reflectivity and PDE of VUV4 Hamamatsu SiPMs in liquid xenon

Considering reflective properties of materials and photodetection efficiency (PDE) of photodetectors is important for optimizing energy resolution and sensitivity of the next generation neutrinoless double beta decay, direct detection dark matter, and neutrino oscillation experiments that will use noble liquid gases, such as nEXO, DARWIN, DarkSide-20k, and DUNE . Little information is currently available about reflectivity and PDE in liquid noble gases, because such measurements are difficult to conduct in a cryogenic environment and at short enough wavelengths. Here we report a measurement of specular reflectivity and relative PDE of Hamamatsu VUV4 silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) with 50 μ m micro-cells conducted with xenon scintillation light ( ~ 175 nm) in liquid xenon. The specular reflectivity at 15 o incidence of three samples of VUV4 SiPMs is found to be 30.4 ± 1.4%, 28.6 ± 1.3%, and 28.0 ± 1.3%, respectively. The PDE at normal incidence differs by ± 8% (standard deviation) among the three devices. The angular dependence of the reflectivity and PDE was further measured for one of the SiPMs. Both the reflectivity and PDE decrease as the angle of incidence increases. This is the first measurement of an angular dependence of PDE and reflectivity of a SiPM in liquid xenon.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗