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1. Cosmogenic background simulations for neutrinoless double beta decay with the DARWIN observatory at various underground sites

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-12298-w  

   DARWIN Collaboration ; Adrover, M. ; Althueser, L. ; Andrieu, B. ; Angelino, E. ; Angevaare, J. R. ; Antunovic, B. ; Aprile, E. ; Babicz, M. ; Bajpai, D. ; et al ( January 2024 , The European Physical Journal C)

   Xenon dual-phase time projections chambers (TPCs) have proven to be a successful technology in studying physical phenomena that require low-background conditions. With$$40\,\textrm{t}$$$40\text{t}$of liquid xenon (LXe) in the TPC baseline design, DARWIN will have a high sensitivity for the detection of particle dark matter, neutrinoless double beta decay ($$0\upnu \upbeta \upbeta $$$0\nu \beta \beta$), and axion-like particles (ALPs). Although cosmic muons are a source of background that cannot be entirely eliminated, they may be greatly diminished by placing the detector deep underground. In this study, we used Monte Carlo simulations to model the cosmogenic background expected for the DARWIN observatory at four underground laboratories: Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) and SNOLAB. We present here the results of simulations performed to determine the production rate of$${}^{137}$$${}^{137}$Xe, the most crucial isotope in the search for$$0\upnu \upbeta \upbeta $$$0\nu \beta \beta$of$${}^{136}$$${}^{136}$Xe. Additionally, we explore the contribution that other muon-induced spallation products, such as other unstable xenon isotopes and tritium, may have on the cosmogenic background.

    

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2. Solar neutrino detection sensitivity in DARWIN via electron scattering

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08602-7  

   Aalbers, J. ; Agostini, F. ; Maouloud, S. E. ; Alfonsi, M. ; Althueser, L. ; Amaro, F. D. ; Angevaare, J. ; Antochi, V. C. ; Antunovic, B. ; Aprile, E. ; et al ( December 2020 , The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract We detail the sensitivity of the proposed liquid xenon DARWIN observatory to solar neutrinos via elastic electron scattering. We find that DARWIN will have the potential to measure the fluxes of five solar neutrino components: pp , $$^7$$ 7 Be, $$^{13}$$ 13 N, $$^{15}$$ 15 O and pep . The precision of the $$^{13}$$ 13 N, $$^{15}$$ 15 O and pep components is hindered by the double-beta decay of $$^{136}$$ 136 Xe and, thus, would benefit from a depleted target. A high-statistics observation of pp neutrinos would allow us to infer the values of the electroweak mixing angle, $$\sin ^2\theta _w$$ sin 2 θ w , and the electron-type neutrino survival probability, $$P_{ee}$$ P ee , in the electron recoil energy region from a few keV up to 200 keV for the first time, with relative precision of 5% and 4%, respectively, with 10 live years of data and a 30 tonne fiducial volume. An observation of pp and $$^7$$ 7 Be neutrinos would constrain the neutrino-inferred solar luminosity down to 0.2%. A combination of all flux measurements would distinguish between the high- (GS98) and low-metallicity (AGS09) solar models with 2.1–2.5 $$\sigma $$ σ significance, independent of external measurements from other experiments or a measurement of $$^8$$ 8 B neutrinos through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in DARWIN. Finally, we demonstrate that with a depleted target DARWIN may be sensitive to the neutrino capture process of $$^{131}$$ 131 Xe. 

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3. Performance of novel VUV-sensitive Silicon Photo-Multipliers for nEXO

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11072-8  

   Gallina, G. ; Guan, Y. ; Retiere, F. ; Cao, G. ; Bolotnikov, A. ; Kotov, I. ; Rescia, S. ; Soma, A. K. ; Tsang, T. ; Darroch, L. ; et al ( December 2022 , The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract Liquid xenon time projection chambers are promising detectors to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0 $$\nu \beta \beta $$ ν β β ), due to their response uniformity, monolithic sensitive volume, scalability to large target masses, and suitability for extremely low background operations. The nEXO collaboration has designed a tonne-scale time projection chamber that aims to search for 0 $$\nu \beta \beta $$ ν β β of $$^{136}$$ 136 Xe with projected half-life sensitivity of $$1.35\times 10^{28}$$ 1.35 × 10 28  yr. To reach this sensitivity, the design goal for nEXO is $$\le $$ ≤ 1% energy resolution at the decay Q -value ( $$2458.07\pm 0.31$$ 2458.07 ± 0.31  keV). Reaching this resolution requires the efficient collection of both the ionization and scintillation produced in the detector. The nEXO design employs Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) to detect the vacuum ultra-violet, 175 nm scintillation light of liquid xenon. This paper reports on the characterization of the newest vacuum ultra-violet sensitive Fondazione Bruno Kessler VUVHD3 SiPMs specifically designed for nEXO, as well as new measurements on new test samples of previously characterised Hamamatsu VUV4 Multi Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs). Various SiPM and MPPC parameters, such as dark noise, gain, direct crosstalk, correlated avalanches and photon detection efficiency were measured as a function of the applied over voltage and wavelength at liquid xenon temperature (163 K). The results from this study are used to provide updated estimates of the achievable energy resolution at the decay Q -value for the nEXO design. 

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4. Energy resolution and linearity of XENON1T in the MeV energy range

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-8284-0  

   Aprile, E. ; Aalbers, J. ; Agostini, F. ; Alfonsi, M. ; Althueser, L. ; Amaro, F. D. ; Antochi, V. C. ; Angelino, E. ; Angevaare, J. ; Arneodo, F. ; et al ( August 2020 , The European Physical Journal C)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Xenon dual-phase time projection chambers designed to search for weakly interacting massive particles have so far shown a relative energy resolution which degrades with energy above $$\sim $$ ∼ 200 keV due to the saturation effects. This has limited their sensitivity in the search for rare events like the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $$^{136} \hbox {Xe}$$ 136 Xe at its Q value, $$Q_{\beta \beta }\simeq 2.46\,\hbox {MeV}$$ Q β β ≃ 2.46 MeV . For the XENON1T dual-phase time projection chamber, we demonstrate that the relative energy resolution at $$1\,\sigma /\mu $$ 1 σ / μ is as low as ( $$0.80 \pm 0.02$$ 0.80 ± 0.02 ) % in its one-ton fiducial mass, and for single-site interactions at $$Q_{\beta \beta }$$ Q β β . We also present a new signal correction method to rectify the saturation effects of the signal readout system, resulting in more accurate position reconstruction and indirectly improving the energy resolution. The very good result achieved in XENON1T opens up new windows for the xenon dual-phase dark matter detectors to simultaneously search for other rare events. 

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5. The EXO-200 detector, part II: auxiliary systems

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/17/02/P02015  

   Ackerman, N. ; Albert, J. ; Auger, M. ; Auty, D.J. ; Badhrees, I. ; Barbeau, P.S. ; Bartoszek, L. ; Baussan, E. ; Belov, V. ; Benitez-Medina, C. ; et al ( February 2022 , Journal of Instrumentation)

   Abstract The EXO-200 experiment searched for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136 Xe with a single-phase liquid xenon detector. It used an active mass of 110 kg of 80.6%-enriched liquid xenon in an ultra-low background time projection chamber with ionization and scintillation detection and readout. This paper describes the design and performance of the various support systems necessary for detector operation, including cryogenics, xenon handling, and controls. Novel features of the system were driven by the need to protect the thin-walled detector chamber containing the liquid xenon, to achieve high chemical purity of the Xe, and to maintain thermal uniformity across the detector. 

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