Electron avalanche in liquid xenon

Abstract

Measurements in liquid Xe are reported of the characteristic function that describes the avalanche, the first Townsend coefficient. An electron avalanche occurs when the drifting electrons attain sufficient kinetic energy from the electric field to cause additional ionization. Data on the avalanche were obtained by studying the pulses in a liquid-filled proportional chamber as a function of applied voltage and anode diameter. The results of the investigation show that the avalanche of free electrons in purified liquid Xe is adequately described by the same formalism used for the avalanche of electrons in gases.