ABSTRACT
Maintaining the electric fields necessary for the current generation of noble liquid time projection chambers (TPCs), with drift lengths exceeding 1 m, requires a large negative voltage applied to their cathode. Delivering such high voltage is associated with an elevated risk of electrostatic discharge and electroluminescence, which would be detrimental to the performance of the experiment. The Xenon Breakdown Apparatus (XeBrA) is a 5-l, high voltage test chamber built to investigate the contributing factors to electrical breakdown in noble liquids. In this work, we present the main findings after conducting scans over stressed electrode areas, surface finish, pressure, and high voltage ramp speed in the medium of liquid xenon. Area scaling and surface finish were observed to be the dominant factors affecting breakdown, whereas no significant changes were observed with varying pressure or ramp speed. A general rise in both the anode current and photon rate was observed in the last 30 s, leading up to a breakdown, with a marked increase in the last couple of seconds. In addition, the position of breakdowns was reconstructed with a system of high-speed cameras and a moderate correlation with the Fowler-Nordheim field emission model was found. Tentative evidence for bubble nucleation being the originating mechanism of breakdown in the liquid was also observed. We deem the results presented in this work to be of particular interest for the design of future, large TPCs, and practical recommendations are provided.
ABSTRACT
In order to measure the energy and fluence of neutron fields, in the energy range of 8 to 1 MeV, a new primary standard is being developed at the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). This project, Micro Time Projection Chamber (µ-TPC), carried out in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Physqique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), is based on the nucleus recoil detector principle. The measurement strategy requires track reconstruction of recoiling nuclei down to a few kiloelectronvolts, which can be achieved using a micro-pattern gaseous detector. A gas mixture, mainly isobutane, is used as an n-p converter to detect neutrons within the detection volume. Then electrons, coming from the ionisation of the gas by the proton recoil, are collected by the pixelised anode (2D projection). A self-triggered electronics system is able to perform the anode readout at a 50-MHz frequency in order to give the third dimension of the track. Then, the scattering angle is deduced from this track using algorithms. The charge collection leads to the proton energy, taking into account the ionisation quenching factor. This article emphasises the neutron energy measurements of a monoenergetic neutron field produced at 127 keV. The fluence measurement is not shown in this article. The measurements are compared with Monte Carlo simulations using realistic neutron fields and simulations of the detector response. The discrepancy between experiments and simulations is 5 keV mainly due to the calibration uncertainties of 10 %.
