Background: Large argon-based neutrino detectors, such as those planned for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, have the potential to provide unique sensitivity to low-energy (few to tens of MeV) electron neutrinos produced by core-collapse supernovae. Despite their importance for neutrino energy reconstruction, nuclear de-excitations following charged-current ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$ absorption on $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$ have never been studied in detail at supernova energies.Purpose: I develop a model of nuclear de-excitations that occur following the $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}({\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e},{e}^{\ensuremath{-}})^{40}\mathrm{K}^{*}$ reaction. This model is applied to the calculation of exclusive cross sections.Methods: A simple expression for the inclusive differential cross section is derived under the allowed approximation. Nuclear de-excitations are described using a combination of measured $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray decay schemes and the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model. All calculations are carried out using a novel Monte Carlo event generator called MARLEY (Model of Argon Reaction Low Energy Yields).Results: Various total and differential cross sections are presented. Two de-excitation modes, one involving only $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays and the other including single neutron emission, are found to be dominant at few tens-of-MeV energies.Conclusions: Nuclear de-excitations have a strong impact on the achievable energy resolution for supernova ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$ detection in liquid argon. Tagging events involving neutron emission, though difficult, could substantially improve energy reconstruction. Given a suitable calculation of the inclusive cross section, the MARLEY nuclear de-excitation model may readily be applied to other scattering processes.

Nuclear de-excitations in low-energy charged-current ν e scattering on Ar 40

A large number of particle detectors employ liquid argon as their target material owing to its high scintillation yield and its ability to drift ionization charge for large distances. Scintillation light from argon is peaked at 128 nm and a wavelength shifter is required for its efficient detection. In this work we directly compare the light yield achieved in two identical liquid argon chambers, one of which is equipped with PolyEthylene Naphthalate (PEN) and the other with TetraPhenyl Butadiene (TPB) wavelength shifter. Both chambers are lined with enhanced specular reflectors and instrumented with SiPMs with a coverage fraction of approximately 1%, which represents a geometry comparable to the future large scale detectors. We measured the light yield of the PEN chamber to be 39.4$\pm$0.4(stat)$\pm$1.9(syst)% of the yield of the TPB chamber. Using a Monte Carlo simulation this result is used to extract the wavelength shifting efficiency of PEN relative to TPB equal to 47.2$\pm$5.7%. This result paves the way for the use of easily available PEN foils as a wavelength shifter, which can substantially simplify the construction of the future liquid argon detectors.

Direct comparison of PEN and TPB wavelength shifters in a liquid argon detector

Searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay continue to expand our understanding of the lepton sector, with experiments now pursuing ton-scale target masses with sensitivity to ${m}_{\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\beta}}$ covering the allowed parameter space for the inverted neutrino mass ordering. Continued searches for this rare decay will require scalable detector technologies to achieve significant increases in the target mass beyond the ton scale, in order to probe the normal ordering region. This work explores the concept of searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in a 10 kton-scale liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) located deep underground and doped with percent-level quantities of xenon. We discuss the design requirements, background mitigation, and detector R needs and considerations for deployment in a modified DUNE far detector module. We find that such a detector could reach ${m}_{\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\beta}}$ sensitivity at the 2--4 meV range with xenon doping at 2% if significant background reductions can be achieved. 

Xenon-doped liquid argon TPCs as a neutrinoless double beta decay platform

Abstract Detectors based on liquid argon (LAr) often require surfaces that can shift vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light and reflect the visible shifted light. For the LAr instrumentation of the LEGEND-200 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, several square meters of wavelength-shifting reflectors (WLSR) were prepared: the reflector Tetratex® (TTX) was in-situ evaporated with the wavelength shifter tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB). For even larger detectors, TPB evaporation will be more challenging and plastic films of polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) are considered as an option to ease scalability. In this work, we first characterized the absorption (and reflectivity) of PEN, TPB (and TTX) films in response to visible light. We then measured TPB and PEN coupled to TTX in a LAr setup equipped with a VUV sensitive photomultiplier tube. The effective VUV photon yield in the setup was first measured using an absorbing reference sample, and the VUV reflectivity of TTX quantified. The characterization and simulation of the setup along with the measurements and modelling of the optical parameters of TPB, PEN and TTX allowed to estimate the absolute quantum efficiency (QE) of TPB and PEN in LAr (at 87K) for the first time: these were found to be above 67 and 49%, respectively (at 90% CL). These results provide relevant input for the optical simulations of experiments that use TPB in LAr, such as LEGEND-200, and for experiments that plan to use TPB or PEN to shift VUV scintillation light. 

/pdf/r-d-of-wavelength-shifting-reflectors-and-characterization-3pi3lg91.pdf

R &amp;D of wavelength-shifting reflectors and characterization of the quantum efficiency of tetraphenyl butadiene and polyethylene naphthalate in liquid argon

The detection of neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae may reveal important process features as well as neutrino properties. The detection of supernova neutrinos is one of the main science drivers for future kiloton-scale neutrino detectors based on liquid argon. Here we show that for such detectors the intrinsically 3D readout in Q-Pix offers numerous advantages relative to a wire-based readout, such as higher reconstruction efficiency, lower energy threshold, considerably lower data rates, and potential pointing information. 

Enhanced low-energy supernova burst detection in large liquid argon time projection chambers enabled by Q-Pix

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.

Wavelength-Shifting Performance of Polyethylene Naphthalate Films in a Liquid Argon Environment

Using truth-level Monte Carlo simulations of particle interactions in a large volume of liquid argon, we demonstrate physics capabilities enabled by reconstruction of topologically compact and isolated low-energy features, or ``blips,'' in large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) events. These features are mostly produced by electron products of photon interactions depositing ionization energy. The blip identification capability of the LArTPC is enabled by its unique combination of size, position resolution precision, and low energy thresholds. We show that consideration of reconstructed blips in LArTPC physics analyses can result in substantial improvements in calorimetry for neutrino and new physics interactions and for final-state particles ranging in energy from the MeV to the GeV scale. Blip activity analysis is also shown to enable discrimination between interaction channels and final-state particle types. In addition to demonstrating these gains in calorimetry and discrimination, some limitations of blip reconstruction capabilities and physics outcomes are also discussed.

Benefits of MeV-Scale Reconstruction Capabilities in Large Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers

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Wavelength-Shifting Performance of Polyethylene Naphthalate Films in a Liquid Argon Environment

Wavelength-Shifting Performance of Polyethylene Naphthalate Films in a Liquid Argon Environment

Benefits of MeV-Scale Reconstruction Capabilities in Large Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers