Development of a 127Xe calibration source for nEXO

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Date

2022

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

IOP Publishing

Abstract

We study a possible calibration technique for the nEXO experiment using a 127Xe electron capture source. nEXO is a next-generation search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) that will use a 5-tonne, monolithic liquid xenon time projection chamber (TPC). The xenon, used both as source and detection medium, will be enriched to 90% in 136Xe. To optimize the event reconstruction and energy resolution, calibrations are needed to map the position- and time-dependent detector response. The 36.3 day half-life of 127Xe and its small Q-value compared to that of 136Xe 0νββ would allow a small activity to be maintained continuously in the detector during normal operations without introducing additional backgrounds, thereby enabling in-situ calibration and monitoring of the detector response.

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Keywords

Astronomy, Astrophysics, Xenon, Energy

Citation

Lenardo, B. G. et al. (2022). Development of a 127Xe calibration source for nEXO. Journal of Instrumentation, 17(7), P07028. 10.1088/1748-0221/17/07/P07028