NEXT 100 is a neutrinoless double beta decay search experiment scheduled for installation at the Laboratorio Subterrneo de Canfranc (LSC) in 2013. The NEXT 100 detector is a Time Projection Chamber ...(TPC) utilizing the default technology solution of a electroluminescence signal amplification. NEXT 1 EL is an important milestone in the development of NEXT 100 which aims to demonstrate large size EL amplification and long track drift in 10 bar pressure Xe gas.
We present the design, data and results from the NEXT prototype for Double Beta and Dark Matter (NEXT-DBDM) detector, a high-pressure gaseous natural xenon electroluminescent time projection chamber ...(TPC) that was built at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is a prototype of the planned NEXT-100 136Xe neutrino-less double beta decay (0νββ) experiment with the main objectives of demonstrating near-intrinsic energy resolution at energies up to 662 keV and of optimizing the NEXT-100 detector design and operating parameters. Energy resolutions of ∼1% FWHM for 662 keV gamma rays were obtained at 10 and 15 atm and ∼5% FWHM for 30 keV fluorescence xenon X-rays. These results demonstrate that 0.5% FWHM resolutions for the 2459 keV hypothetical neutrino-less double beta decay peak are realizable. This energy resolution is a factor 7-20 better than that of the current leading 0νββ experiments using liquid xenon and thus represents a significant advancement. We present also first results from a track imaging system consisting of 64 silicon photo-multipliers recently installed in NEXT-DBDM that, along with the excellent energy resolution, demonstrates the key functionalities required for the NEXT-100 0νββ search
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1997.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references ...(leaves 159-163).
To date, Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) collaboration has successfully deployed 382 optical modules at various depths in the South Polar ice sheet. The last 216 optical modules ...were put in place during the 1996-7 austral summer. This deployment completed a 10-stringed detector at depth between 1500-2000m (AMANDA-B). The detector has been operating successfully and taking data at a rate of $92Hz$. However, due to the remoteness of location and the limited bandwidth for satellite transmission, only 5% of the latest data can be transmitted from the South Pole to the collaboration. Before the end of the 1996-7 antarctic season 6$GBytes$ of data were carried to the rest of the world by hand. Since this data was taken while detector calibration was still being performed, it is far from ideal. Yet this sample, to date, represents the largest amount of the data taken by the 10 string detector available for analysis. A total of 11.8 hours of raw data was analysed, comprising 3,380,739 events. Of that number 2,951,118 were AMANDA-B triggers. After calibration and noise cleaning, the number of confirmed AMANDA-B triggers was further reduced to 2,880,391. From this data set a fraction of events were reconstructed without any filtering on the reconstructed direction of the final track. This resulted in 103,168 reconstructed tracks from all zenith angles. However, the full set of 2,880,391 triggers was used to reconstruct tracks, selecting only those that yielded an up-going muon. The procedure produced 25,122 tracks. Various quality criteria was then utilised to discriminate real up-going tracks from fake events mimicked by down-going muons. No real up-going events were found. My personal contribution to the AMANDA experiment has been in three main areas: hardware; I have built 40 of the first AMANDA-A modules; software; I have written subroutines for the University of Wisconsin-Madison AMANDA group's Monte Carlo; data analysis; I have analysed the early 10 string AMANDA-B data.
PDF
