A Prototype High-Pressure Xenon Detector for NEXT
Joshua Renner, University of California, Berkeley
We describe the operation and ongoing development of a high-pressure xenon time projection chamber (TPC). This detector is designed to measure the energy of ionizing radiation with high precision and has achieved an energy resolution of near 1 percent FWHM for 662 keV gamma rays emitted from a 137Cs source. It is being developed as a prototype for the experiment NEXT (Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC), in which a larger TPC, NEXT-100, will be stationed in the Canfranc underground laboratory in Spain. The experiment will combine good energy resolution with silicon photomultiplier-based particle tracking to search for neutrinoless double beta decay with approximately 100 kg of xenon enriched to the isotope 136Xe.
Abstract Author(s): D. Chan, M. Egorov, V.M. Gehman, A. Goldschmidt, J. Joseph, D. Kiang, T. Miller, D. Nygren, C.A.B. Oliveira, J. Renner, D. Shuman, T. Weber