Search engine for discovering works of Art, research articles, and books related to Art and Culture
ShareThis
Javascript must be enabled to continue!

Wavelength-shifting performance of polyethylene naphthalate films in a liquid argon environment

View through CrossRef
Abstract Liquid argon is commonly used as a detector medium for neutrino physics and dark matter experiments in part due to its copious scintillation light production in response to its excitation and ionization by charged particle interactions. As argon scintillation appears in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime and is difficult to detect, wavelength-shifting materials are typically used to convert VUV light to visible wavelengths more easily detectable by conventional means. In this work, we examine the wavelength-shifting and optical properties of poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN), a recently proposed alternative to tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), the most widely-used wavelength-shifter in argon-based experiments. In a custom cryostat system with well-demonstrated geometric and response stability, we use 128 nm argon scintillation light to examine various PEN-including reflective samples' light-producing capabilities, and study the stability of PEN when immersed in liquid argon. The best-performing PEN-including test reflector was found to produce 34% as much visible light as a TPB-including reference sample, with widely varying levels of light production between different PEN-including test reflectors. Plausible origins for these variations, including differences in optical properties and molecular orientation, are then identified using additional measurements. Unlike TPB-coated samples, PEN-coated samples did not produce long-timescale light collection increases associated with solvation or suspension of wavelength-shifting material in bulk liquid argon.
Title: Wavelength-shifting performance of polyethylene naphthalate films in a liquid argon environment
Description:
Abstract Liquid argon is commonly used as a detector medium for neutrino physics and dark matter experiments in part due to its copious scintillation light production in response to its excitation and ionization by charged particle interactions.
As argon scintillation appears in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime and is difficult to detect, wavelength-shifting materials are typically used to convert VUV light to visible wavelengths more easily detectable by conventional means.
In this work, we examine the wavelength-shifting and optical properties of poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN), a recently proposed alternative to tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), the most widely-used wavelength-shifter in argon-based experiments.
In a custom cryostat system with well-demonstrated geometric and response stability, we use 128 nm argon scintillation light to examine various PEN-including reflective samples' light-producing capabilities, and study the stability of PEN when immersed in liquid argon.
The best-performing PEN-including test reflector was found to produce 34% as much visible light as a TPB-including reference sample, with widely varying levels of light production between different PEN-including test reflectors.
Plausible origins for these variations, including differences in optical properties and molecular orientation, are then identified using additional measurements.
Unlike TPB-coated samples, PEN-coated samples did not produce long-timescale light collection increases associated with solvation or suspension of wavelength-shifting material in bulk liquid argon.

Related Results

Alternative Entrances: Phillip Noyce and Sydney’s Counterculture
Alternative Entrances: Phillip Noyce and Sydney’s Counterculture
Phillip Noyce is one of Australia’s most prominent film makers—a successful feature film director with both iconic Australian narratives and many a Hollywood blockbuster under his ...
Desarrollo de nuevas estructuras laminares de nanocelulosa con propiedades avanzadas para el packaging
Desarrollo de nuevas estructuras laminares de nanocelulosa con propiedades avanzadas para el packaging
(English) Changes in the use of raw materials and major lifestyle changes in first world societies have driven the massive use of petroleum-based materials in a wide range of appli...
Spray Coated Nanocellulose Films Productions, Characterization and Application
Spray Coated Nanocellulose Films Productions, Characterization and Application
Nanocellulose (NC) is a biodegradable, renewable and sustainable material. It has strong potential to use as a functional material in various applications such as barriers, coating...
Isotope effect on quantum thermal transport in a polyethylene chain
Isotope effect on quantum thermal transport in a polyethylene chain
both the theoretical and the experimental aspects. Bulk polyethylene is regarded as a thermal insulator because its thermal conductivity is typically on the order of 0.35 W·m-1·K-1...
Task Shifting: Need for a more Cautious and Nuanced Approach
Task Shifting: Need for a more Cautious and Nuanced Approach
Task shifting refers to the strategic redistribution and decentralization of health care tasks from one group to another(including lay workers), the latter usually deemed as having...
Organoprotective Properties of Argon (Review)
Organoprotective Properties of Argon (Review)
The history of studying the organoprotective properties of argon (Ar) began in 1998 when a group of Russian researchers investigated the effect of hypoxic gas mixtures on mammalian...
Observation of radon mitigation in MicroBooNE by a liquid argon filtration system
Observation of radon mitigation in MicroBooNE by a liquid argon filtration system
AbstractThe MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) maintains a high level of liquid argon purity through the use of a filtration system that removes electronegati...

Back to Top