Publication Date
2021
Journal or Book Title
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C
Abstract
Backgrounds from long-lived radon decay products are often problematic for low-energy neutrino and rareevent experiments. These isotopes, specifically 210Pb, 210Bi, and 210Po, easily plate out onto surfaces exposed to radonloaded air. The alpha emitter 210Po is particularly dangerous for detectors searching for weakly-interacting dark matter particles. Neutrons produced via (a, n) reactions in detector materials are, in some cases, a residual background that can limit the sensitivity of the experiment. An effective solution is to reduce the 222Rn activity in the air in contact with detector components during fabrication, assembly, commissioning, and operation. We present the design, construction, calibration procedures and performance of an electrostatic radon detector made to monitor two radon-suppressed clean rooms built for the DARKSIDE-50 experiment. A dedicated data acquisition system immune to harsh operating conditions of the radon monitor is also described. A record detection limit for 222Rn specific activity in air achieved by the device is 0.05mBqm-3 (STP). The radon concentration of different air samples collected from the two DARKSIDE50 clean rooms measured with the electrostatic detector is presented.
ISSN
1434-6044
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08793-z
Volume
81
Issue
1
License
UMass Amherst Open Access Policy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Funder
Polish National Science Centre [UMO-2012/05/E/ST2/02333]; Foundation for Polish ScienceFoundation for Polish ScienceEuropean Commission [POIR.04.04.00-00-2FFF/16]; US National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [PHY-1004072]; US NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [PHY-1242585]
Recommended Citation
Pelczar, K.; Zuzel, G.; Wójcik, M.; Pocar, A.; and Ianni, An., "An Online Radon Monitor for Low-Background Detector Assembly Facilities" (2021). EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C. 1291.
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08793-z