A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the 40K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches

M. Stukel; B. C. Rasco; N. T. Brewer; P. C.F. Di Stefano; K. P. Rykaczewski; H. Davis; E. D. Lukosi; L. Hariasz; M. Constable; P. Davis; K. Dering; A. Fijałkowska; Z. Gai; K. C. Goetz; R. K. Grzywacz; J. Kostensalo; J. Ninkovic; P. Lechner; Y. Liu; M. Mancuso; C. L. Melcher; F. Petricca; C. Rouleau; P. Squillari; L. Stand; D. W. Stracener; J. Suhonen; M. Wolińska-Cichocka; I. Yavin

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593

A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the ⁴⁰K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches

M. Stukel, B. C. Rasco, N. T. Brewer, P. C.F. Di Stefano, K. P. Rykaczewski, H. Davis, E. D. Lukosi, L. Hariasz, M. Constable, P. Davis, K. Dering, A. Fijałkowska, Z. Gai, K. C. Goetz, R. K. Grzywacz, J. Kostensalo, J. Ninkovic, P. Lechner, Y. Liu, M. MancusoC. L. Melcher, F. Petricca, C. Rouleau, P. Squillari, L. Stand, D. W. Stracener, J. Suhonen, M. Wolińska-Cichocka, I. Yavin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Potassium-40 (⁴⁰K) is a long-lived, naturally occurring radioactive isotope. The decay products are prominent backgrounds for many rare event searches, including those involving NaI-based scintillators. ⁴⁰K also plays a role in geochronological dating techniques. The branching ratio of the electron capture directly to the ground state of ⁴⁰Ar has never been measured, which can cause difficulty in interpreting certain results or can lead to lack of precision depending on the field and analysis technique. The KDK (Potassium (K) Decay (DK)) collaboration is measuring this decay. A composite method has a silicon drift detector with an enriched, thermally deposited ⁴⁰K source inside the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. This setup has been characterized in terms of energy calibration, gamma tagging efficiency, live time and false negatives and positives. A complementary, homogeneous, method is also discussed; it employs a KSr₂I₅:Eu scintillator as source and detector.

Original language	English
Article number	165593
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	1012
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593
State	Published - Oct 1 2021

Funding

Work was performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 . Thermal deposition was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). Funding in Canada has been provided by NSERC through SAPIN and SAP RTI grants, as well as by the Faculty of Arts and Science of Queen’s University, and by the McDonald Institute. US support has also been supplied by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Physics and Applications, USA . This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under grant no. 2014-DN-077-ARI088-01 . Disclaimer: The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Funders	Funder number
Faculty of Arts and Science of Queen’s University
McDonald Institute
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725
U.S. Department of Homeland Security	2014-DN-077-ARI088-01
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Keywords

DAMA
Electron capture
Geochronology
KSrI:Eu
MTAS
Potassium
Rare decays
SDD

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10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593

Cite this

Stukel, M., Rasco, B. C., Brewer, N. T., Di Stefano, P. C. F., Rykaczewski, K. P., Davis, H., Lukosi, E. D., Hariasz, L., Constable, M., Davis, P., Dering, K., Fijałkowska, A., Gai, Z., Goetz, K. C., Grzywacz, R. K., Kostensalo, J., Ninkovic, J., Lechner, P., Liu, Y., ... Yavin, I. (2021). A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the ⁴⁰K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1012, Article 165593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593

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title = "A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the 40K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches",

abstract = "Potassium-40 (40K) is a long-lived, naturally occurring radioactive isotope. The decay products are prominent backgrounds for many rare event searches, including those involving NaI-based scintillators. 40K also plays a role in geochronological dating techniques. The branching ratio of the electron capture directly to the ground state of 40Ar has never been measured, which can cause difficulty in interpreting certain results or can lead to lack of precision depending on the field and analysis technique. The KDK (Potassium (K) Decay (DK)) collaboration is measuring this decay. A composite method has a silicon drift detector with an enriched, thermally deposited 40K source inside the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. This setup has been characterized in terms of energy calibration, gamma tagging efficiency, live time and false negatives and positives. A complementary, homogeneous, method is also discussed; it employs a KSr2I5:Eu scintillator as source and detector.",

keywords = "DAMA, Electron capture, Geochronology, KSrI:Eu, MTAS, Potassium, Rare decays, SDD",

author = "M. Stukel and Rasco, {B. C.} and Brewer, {N. T.} and {Di Stefano}, {P. C.F.} and Rykaczewski, {K. P.} and H. Davis and Lukosi, {E. D.} and L. Hariasz and M. Constable and P. Davis and K. Dering and A. Fija{\l}kowska and Z. Gai and Goetz, {K. C.} and Grzywacz, {R. K.} and J. Kostensalo and J. Ninkovic and P. Lechner and Y. Liu and M. Mancuso and Melcher, {C. L.} and F. Petricca and C. Rouleau and P. Squillari and L. Stand and Stracener, {D. W.} and J. Suhonen and M. Woli{\'n}ska-Cichocka and I. Yavin",

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year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593",

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Stukel, M, Rasco, BC, Brewer, NT, Di Stefano, PCF, Rykaczewski, KP, Davis, H, Lukosi, ED, Hariasz, L, Constable, M, Davis, P, Dering, K, Fijałkowska, A, Gai, Z, Goetz, KC, Grzywacz, RK, Kostensalo, J, Ninkovic, J, Lechner, P, Liu, Y, Mancuso, M, Melcher, CL, Petricca, F, Rouleau, C, Squillari, P, Stand, L, Stracener, DW, Suhonen, J, Wolińska-Cichocka, M & Yavin, I 2021, 'A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the ⁴⁰K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 1012, 165593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593

A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the ⁴⁰K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches. / Stukel, M.; Rasco, B. C.; Brewer, N. T. et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 1012, 165593, 01.10.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Stukel, M.

AU - Rasco, B. C.

AU - Brewer, N. T.

AU - Di Stefano, P. C.F.

AU - Rykaczewski, K. P.

AU - Davis, H.

AU - Lukosi, E. D.

AU - Hariasz, L.

AU - Constable, M.

AU - Davis, P.

AU - Dering, K.

AU - Fijałkowska, A.

AU - Gai, Z.

AU - Goetz, K. C.

AU - Grzywacz, R. K.

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AU - Ninkovic, J.

AU - Lechner, P.

AU - Liu, Y.

AU - Mancuso, M.

AU - Melcher, C. L.

AU - Petricca, F.

AU - Rouleau, C.

AU - Squillari, P.

AU - Stand, L.

AU - Stracener, D. W.

AU - Suhonen, J.

AU - Wolińska-Cichocka, M.

AU - Yavin, I.

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N2 - Potassium-40 (40K) is a long-lived, naturally occurring radioactive isotope. The decay products are prominent backgrounds for many rare event searches, including those involving NaI-based scintillators. 40K also plays a role in geochronological dating techniques. The branching ratio of the electron capture directly to the ground state of 40Ar has never been measured, which can cause difficulty in interpreting certain results or can lead to lack of precision depending on the field and analysis technique. The KDK (Potassium (K) Decay (DK)) collaboration is measuring this decay. A composite method has a silicon drift detector with an enriched, thermally deposited 40K source inside the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. This setup has been characterized in terms of energy calibration, gamma tagging efficiency, live time and false negatives and positives. A complementary, homogeneous, method is also discussed; it employs a KSr2I5:Eu scintillator as source and detector.

AB - Potassium-40 (40K) is a long-lived, naturally occurring radioactive isotope. The decay products are prominent backgrounds for many rare event searches, including those involving NaI-based scintillators. 40K also plays a role in geochronological dating techniques. The branching ratio of the electron capture directly to the ground state of 40Ar has never been measured, which can cause difficulty in interpreting certain results or can lead to lack of precision depending on the field and analysis technique. The KDK (Potassium (K) Decay (DK)) collaboration is measuring this decay. A composite method has a silicon drift detector with an enriched, thermally deposited 40K source inside the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. This setup has been characterized in terms of energy calibration, gamma tagging efficiency, live time and false negatives and positives. A complementary, homogeneous, method is also discussed; it employs a KSr2I5:Eu scintillator as source and detector.

KW - DAMA

KW - Electron capture

KW - Geochronology

KW - KSrI:Eu

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KW - Rare decays

KW - SDD

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Stukel M, Rasco BC, Brewer NT, Di Stefano PCF, Rykaczewski KP, Davis H et al. A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the ⁴⁰K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2021 Oct 1;1012:165593. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2021.165593