An x-ray detector using PIN photodiodes for the axion helioscope

An x-ray detector for a solar axion search was developed. The detector is operated at 60K in a cryostat of a superconducting magnet. Special care was paid to microphonic noise immunity and mechanical structure against thermal contraction. The detector consists of an array of PIN photodiodes and tailor made preamplifiers. The size of each PIN photodiode is $11\times 11\times 0.5\ {\rm mm^3}$ and 16 pieces are used for the detector. The detector consists of two parts, the front-end part being operated at a temperature of 60K and the main part in room temperature. Under these circumstances, the detector achieved 1.0 keV resolution in FWHM, 2.5 keV threshold and 6\times 10^{-5} counts sec^{-1} keV^{-1} cm^{-2} background level.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

Pulse-Shape Discrimination of CaF2(Eu)

We measured the decay time of the scintillation pulses produced by electron and nuclear recoils in CaF2(Eu) by a new fitting method. In the recoil energy region 5-30 keVee, we found differences of the decay time between electron and nuclear recoil events. In the recoil energy region above 20 keVee, we found that the decay time is independent of the recoil energy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

A mobile antineutrino detector with plastic scintillators

We propose a new type segmented antineutrino detector made of plastic scintillators for the nuclear safeguard application. A small prototype was built and tested to measure background events. A satisfactory unmanned field operation of the detector system was demonstrated. Besides, a detailed Monte Carlo simulation code was developed to estimate the antineutrino detection efficiency of the detector.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research

The Tokyo Axion Helioscope Experiment

A preliminary result of the solar axion search experiment at the University of Tokyo is presented. We searched for axions which could be produced in the solar core by exploiting the axion helioscope. The helioscope consists of a superconducting magnet with field strength of 4 Tesla over 2.3 meters. From the absence of the axion signal we set a 95 % confidence level upper limit on the axion coupling to two photons $g_{a\gamma\gamma} < 6.0 \times 10^{-10} GeV^{-1}$ for the axion mass $m_a < 0.03$ eV. This is the first solar axion search experiment whose sensitivity to $g_{a\gamma\gamma}$ exceeds the limit inferred from the solar age consideration.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps files included, uses espcrc2.sty, to be published in Proc. AXION WORKSHOP, Gainesville, Florida, 13-15 March 1998, ed. by P.Sikivi

Recent results from the Tokyo axion helioscope experiment

We have searched for axions which could have been produced in the solar core using an axion helioscope with a 2.3m-long 4T superconducting magnet. Axion mass region up to m_a=0.26eV was newly explored by introducing dispersion-matching gas. Preliminary analysis sets a limit on axion-photon coupling constant to be less than (6.4--9.6)e-10 GeV^{-1} (95%CL) for this mass region from the absence of the axion signal. This is more stringent than the limit inferred from the solar age consideration and also more stringent than the recent helioseismological bound.Comment: 6 pages, 4 PostScript figures; submitted to Proceedings of IDM2000 (World Scientific

Near-infrared Brightness of the Galilean Satellites Eclipsed in Jovian Shadow: A New Technique to Investigate Jovian Upper Atmosphere

We have discovered that Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are bright around 1.5 {\mu}m even when not directly lit by sunlight, based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope. The observations were conducted with non-sidereal tracking on Jupiter outside of the field of view to reduce the stray light subtraction uncertainty due to the close proximity of Jupiter. Their eclipsed luminosity was $10^{-6}$-$10^{-7}$ of their uneclipsed brightness, which is low enough that this phenomenon has been undiscovered until now. In addition, Europa in eclipse was <1/10 of the others at 1.5 {\mu}m, a potential clue to the origin of the source of luminosity. Likewise, Ganymede observations were attempted at 3.6 {\mu}m by the Spitzer Space Telescope but it was not detected, suggesting a significant wavelength dependence. The reason why they are luminous even when in the Jovian shadow is still unknown, but forward-scattered sunlight by haze in the Jovian upper atmosphere is proposed as the most plausible candidate. If this is the case, observations of these Galilean satellites while eclipsed by the Jovian shadow provide us a new technique to investigate Jovian atmospheric composition, and investigating the transmission spectrum of Jupiter by this method is important for investigating the atmosphere of extrasolar giant planets by transit spectroscopy.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Ap