DOE OSTI · 2892530
Ultra-sensitive radon assay using an electrostatic chamber in a recirculating system
Abstract
Rare event searches such as neutrinoless double beta decay and Weakly Interacting Massive Particle detection require ultra-low background detectors. Radon contamination is a significant challenge for these experiments, which employ highly sensitive radon assay techniques to identify and select low-emission materials. This work presents the development of ultra-sensitive electrostatic chamber (ESC) instruments designed to measure radon emanation in a recirculating gas loop, for future lower background experiments. Unlike traditional methods that separate emanation and detection steps, this system allows continuous radon transport and detection. This is made possible with a custom-built recirculation pump. A Python-based analysis framework, PyDAn, was developed to process and fit time-dependent radon decay data. Radon emanation rates are given for various materials measured with this instrument. A radon source of known activity provides an absolute calibration, enabling statistically-limited minimal detectable activities of 20 µBq. These devices are powerful tools for screening materials in the development of low-background particle physics experiments.
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Anker, Astrid [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); et al.] (ORCID:0000000165275855), Breur, P. A., Mong, B., Acharya, P., Amy, A., Angelico, E., Arnquist, Issac J., Atencio, A., Bane, J., Belov, V., Bernard, E. P., Bhatta, T., Bolotnikov, Aleksey (ORCID:0009000848868091), Breslin, J., Brodsky, J. P., Bron, S., Brown, E., Brunner, T., Burnell, B., Caden, E., Cao, L. Q., Cao, G. F., Cesmecioglu, D., Chernyak, D., Chiu, M., Collister, R., Daniels, T., Darroch, L., DeVoe, R., di Vacri, Maria Laura, Ding, Y. Y., Dolinski, M. J., Dragone, A., Eckert, B., Elbeltagi, M., Emara, A., Fairbank, W., Fatemighomi, N., Foust, B., Fu, Y. S., Gallacher, D., Gallice, N., Giacomini, G., Gillis, W., Gorham, Aron, Gornea, R., Gratta, G., Guan, Y. D., Hardy, C. A., Hedges, S., Heffner, M., Hein, E., Holt, J. D., Iverson, A., Jiang, X. S., Karelin, A., Keblbeck, D., Kotov, I., Kuchenkov, A., Kumar, K. S., Larson, A., Latif, M. B., Leach, K. G., Lenardo, B. G., Lennarz, A., Leonard, D. S., Leung, K., Lewis, H., Li, G., Li, X., Li, Z., Licciardi, C., Lindsay, R., MacLellan, R., Majidi, S., Malbrunot, C., Marquis, M., Masbou, J., Medina-Peregrina, M., Mngonyama, S., Moore, D. C., Ngwadla, X. E., Ni, K., Nolan, A., Nowicki, S. C., Nzobadila Ondze, J. C., Odian, A., Orrell, John L. (ORCID:0000000179684051), Ortega, Gabriel S., Overman, Cory T., Pagani, Luca (ORCID:0000000234692581), Peltz Smalley, H., Perna, A., Piepke, A., Pocar, A., Radeka, V., Raguzin, E., Rai, R., Rasiwala, H., Ray, D.. 2025-08-01. Ultra-sensitive radon assay using an electrostatic chamber in a recirculating system. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2025.170876
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