Akerib, D.S., Al Musalhi, A.K., Alder, F. et al. (264 more authors) (2026) Low-energy radon backgrounds from electrode grids in dual-phase xenon TPCs. Physical Review D, 114 (7). 072007. ISSN: 2470-0010
Abstract
The dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) is a powerful technology to detect rare interactions such as scatters of dark matter particles on nuclei. In particular, the built-in gain of ionization signals in a dual-phase TPC makes it sensitive to events in the few-electron regime, as expected from lowmass dark matter interactions. The pursuit of this low-energy sensitivity through ionization-only signal detection has so far been hindered by excessive electron backgrounds observed across experiments. Much of this background is attributed to the plate-out of 222Rn decay chain isotopes on the high-voltage electrode grid surfaces that span the full cross section of the TPC. This work presents a first-principles model constructed for this background, the predictions of which are consistent with data from the LZ and LUX experiments. We then discuss strategies to mitigate this background in future dual-phase TPCs and the possibility of applying this grid background model to ionization-only dark matter searches.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Authors/Creators: |
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| Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2026 The authors. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Particle and High Energy Physics; Mathematical Physics; Mathematical Sciences; Physical Sciences; Astronomical Sciences |
| Dates: |
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| Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
| Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Nov 2026 11:49 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Nov 2026 11:49 |
| Status: | Published |
| Publisher: | American Physical Society (APS) |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Identification Number: | 10.1103/7tk3-33s9 |
| Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:247560 |
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