283 research outputs found
Measurement of Carbon Disulfide Anion Diffusion in a TPC
A Negative Ion Time Projection Chamber was used to measure the field
dependence of lateral and longitudinal diffusion for CS anions drifting in
mixtures of CS and Ar at 40 Torr. Ion drift velocities and limits on the
capture distance for electrons as a function of field and gas mixture are also
reported.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX using elsart.cl
On the Mechanism of Townsend Avalanche for Negative Molecular Ions
Time projection chambers drifting negative ions (NITPC) instead of electrons
have several advantages. A NITPC can operate at very high reduced drift fields
without diffusion runaway, and the readout digitization sampling rate
requirement is considerably relaxed due to the low drift speed of negative
ions. The initiation of Townsend avalanches to allow gas gain in these devices
has not been understood until now. It is shown here that the avalanche in low
pressure CS vapor is most likely initiated by collisional detachment of the
electron from the negative molecular ion. In mixtures of Nitromethane vapor
with CO the mechanism appears to be more complex
Negative Ion Drift and Diffusion in a TPC near 1 Bar
Drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion measurements are reported for a
Negative Ion TPC (NITPC) operating with Helium + carbon disulfide gas mixtures
at total pressures from 160 to 700 torr. Longitudinal diffusion at the
thermal-limit was observed for drift fields up to at least 700 V/cm in all gas
mixtures tested. The results are of particular interest in connection with
mechanical simplification of Dark Matter searches such as DRIFT, and for high
energy physics experiments in which a low-Z, low density, gaseous tracking
detector with no appreciable Lorentz drift is needed for operation in very high
magnetic fields.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Towards energy resolution at the statistical limit from a negative ion time projection chamber
We make a proof-of-principle demonstration that improved energy resolution
can be obtained in a negative-ion time projection chamber, by individually
counting each electron produced by ionizing radiation.Comment: Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.
GEM Operation in Negative Ion Drift Gas Mixtures
The first operation of GEM gas gain elements in negative ion gas mixtures is
reported. Gains up to several thousand were obtained from single-stage GEMs in
carbon disulfide vapor at low pressure, and in mixtures of carbon disulfide
with Argon and Helium, some near 1 bar total pressure.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
A benign, low Z electron capture agent for negative ion TPCs
We have identified nitromethane (CHNO) as an effective electron
capture agent for negative ion TPCs (NITPCs).
We present drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion measurements for
negative ion gas mixtures using nitromethane as the capture agent.
Not only is nitromethane substantially more benign than the only other
identified capture agent, CS, but its low atomic number will enable the use
of the NITPC as a photoelectric X{}-ray polarimeter in the 1{}-10 keV band
Low Pressure Negative Ion Drift Chamber for Dark Matter Search
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are an attractive candidate for
the dark matter thought to make up the bulk of the mass of our universe. We
explore here the possibility of using a low pressure negative ion drift chamber
to search for WIMPs. The innovation of drifting ions, instead of electrons,
allows the design of a detector with exceptional sensitivity to, background
rejection from, and signature of WIMPs.Comment: 5 pages submitted to PR
The DRIFT Project: Searching for WIMPS with a Directional Detector
A low pressure time projection chamber for the detection of WIMPs is
discussed. Discrimination against Compton electron background in such a device
should be very good, and directional information about the recoil atoms would
be obtainable. If a full 3-D reconstruction of the recoil tracks can be
achieved, Monte Carlo studies indicate that a WIMP signal could be identified
with high confidence from as few as 30 detected WIMP-nucleus scattering events.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Presented at Dark 98, Heidelberg, July 1998, and
to appear in conference proceeding
A Study of the Residual 39Ar Content in Argon from Underground Sources
The discovery of argon from underground sources with significantly less 39Ar
than atmospheric argon was an important step in the development of
direct-detection dark matter experiments using argon as the active target. We
report on the design and operation of a low background detector with a single
phase liquid argon target that was built to study the 39Ar content of the
underground argon. Underground argon from the Kinder Morgan CO2 plant in
Cortez, Colorado was determined to have less than 0.65% of the 39Ar activity in
atmospheric argon.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure
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