Quenching factor measurements of neon nuclei in neon gas

Balogh, L

Beaufort, C

Brossard, A

Caron, J-F

Chapellier, M

Coquillat, J-M

Corcoran, EC

Crawford, S

Fard, A Dastgheibi

Deng, Y

Dering, K

Durnford, D

Garrah, C

Gerbier, G

Giomataris, I

Giroux, G

Gorel, P

Gros, M

Gros, P

Guillaudin, O

Hoppe, EW

Katsioulas, I

Kelly, F

Knights, P

Kwon, L

Langrock, S

Lautridou, P

Martin, RD

Manthos, I

Matthews, J

Mols, J-P

Muraz, J-F

Neep, T

Nikolopoulos, K

O'Brien, P

Piro, M-C

Samuleev, P

Santos, D

Savvidis, G

Savvidis, I

Fernandez, F Vazquez de Sola

Vidal, M

Ward, R

Zampaolo, M

An, P

Awe, C

Barbeau, P

Hedges, S

Li, L

Runge, J

2021-11-17T15:41:26Z

2021-11-17T15:41:26Z

2021-11-17T15:41:26Z

The NEWS-G collaboration uses Spherical Proportional Counters (SPCs) to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). In this paper, we report the first measurements of the nuclear quenching factor in neon gas at \SI{2}{bar} using an SPC deployed in a neutron beam at the TUNL facility. The energy-dependence of the nuclear quenching factor is modelled using a simple power law: $\alpha$E${nr}^{\beta}$; we determine its parameters by simultaneously fitting the data collected with the detector over a range of energies. We measured the following parameters in Ne:CH${4}$ at \SI{2}{bar}: $\alpha$ = 0.2801 $\pm$ 0.0050 (fit) $\pm$ 0.0045 (sys) and $\beta$ = 0.0867 $\pm$ 0.020 (fit) $\pm$ 0.006(sys). Our measurements do not agree with expected values from SRIM or Lindhard theory. We demonstrated the feasibility of performing quenching factor measurements at sub-keV energies in gases using SPCs and a neutron beam.

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23991

physics.ins-det

physics.ins-det

hep-ex

Quenching factor measurements of neon nuclei in neon gas

Journal article

Barbeau, P|0000-0002-8891-8988

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Physics

Duke