Thesis
Radon daughter ion implantation in the nEXO cathode
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001756
Abstract
The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay, a theoretical particle decay process in which a nucleus undergoes two simultaneous beta decays without emitting any neutrinos, is a field on the cutting edge of neutrino physics because of this type of decay's potential to expand our knowledge beyond the standard model. nEXO will be a next-generation neutrinoless double-beta decay detector with a lifetime sensitivity on the order of 10²⁸years. An important task in detecting neutrinoless double-beta decay is mitigating background radiation, particularly from radioactive impurities within the detector. An important class of radioactive impurities are radon-222 and its decay daughters. Radon daughter ions, attracted to the negatively-charged cathode, have a chance to embed themselves into the cathode material due to nuclear recoil. This ion implantation presents a more complicated problem in modelling the effect of these radon daughters on radioactive background. As demonstrated in this thesis, ion implantation is significant enough of a factor in how background radiation will be detected in nEXO that this phenomenon must be carefully studied in the detector design.
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Details
- Title
- Radon daughter ion implantation in the nEXO cathode
- Creators
- Evan Thomas Chambers
- Contributors
- Michelle Dolinski (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- iii, 30 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Physics; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021212414604721