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A gaseous time projection chamber with Micromegas readout for low-radioactive material screening

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Abstract

Purpose

Low-radioactive material screening is becoming essential for rare event search experiments, such as neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches in underground laboratories. A gaseous time projection chamber (TPC) can be used for such purposes with large active areas and high efficiency.

Methods

A gaseous TPC with a Micromegas readout plane of approximately \(20 \times 20\) \(\hbox {cm}^2\) is successfully constructed for surface alpha contamination measurements.

Results

We have characterized the energy resolution, gain stability, and tracking capability with calibration sources.

Conclusion

With the unique track-related background suppression cuts of the gaseous TPC, we have established that the alpha background rate of the TPC is (\(0.13\pm 0.03\))\(\times 10^{-6}\) Bq/\(\hbox {cm}^2\), comparable to the leading commercial solutions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFA0400302) and the grant U1965201 from the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China. We appreciate the support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Particle Physics (CCEPP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (MOE), School of Physics and Astronomy, INPAC, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Haiyan Du, Ke Han, Yue Meng, Shaobo Wang, Tao Zhang, Wenming Zhang & Li Zhao

  2. Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, Chengdu, 610051, China

    Chengbo Du, Shengming He, Liqiang Liu & Jifang Zhou

  3. SPEIT (SJTU-ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Shaobo Wang

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  1. Haiyan Du
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  2. Chengbo Du
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  3. Ke Han
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Correspondence to Ke Han.

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Du, H., Du, C., Han, K. et al. A gaseous time projection chamber with Micromegas readout for low-radioactive material screening. Radiat Detect Technol Methods 7, 90–99 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41605-022-00364-y

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