$^{222}$ Rn emanation measurements for the XENON1T experiment

XENON Collaboration; E Aprile¹, J Aalbers², F Agostini³, M Alfonsi⁴, L Althueser⁵, F D Amaro⁶, V C Antochi², E Angelino⁷, J R Angevaare⁸, F Arneodo⁹, D Barge², L Baudis¹⁰, B Bauermeister², L Bellagamba³, M L Benabderrahmane⁹, T Berger¹¹, P A Breur⁸, A Brown¹⁰, E Brown¹¹, S Bruenner⁸, G Bruno⁹, R Budnik^{12

13}, C Capelli¹⁰, J M R Cardoso⁶, D Cichon¹⁴, B Cimmino¹⁵, M Clark¹⁶, D Coderre¹⁷, A P Colijn^{8

18}, J Conrad², J P Cussonneau¹⁹, M P Decowski⁸, A Depoian¹⁶, P Di Gangi³, A Di Giovanni⁹, R Di Stefano¹⁵, S Diglio¹⁹, A Elykov¹⁷, G Eurin¹⁴, A D Ferella^{20

21}, W Fulgione^{7

21}, P Gaemers⁸, R Gaior²², A Gallo Rosso²¹, M Galloway¹⁰, F Gao¹, L Grandi²³, M Garbini³, C Hasterok¹⁴, C Hils⁴, K Hiraide²⁴, L Hoetzsch¹⁴, E Hogenbirk⁸, J Howlett¹, M Iacovacci¹⁵, Y Itow²⁵, F Joerg¹⁴, N Kato²⁴, S Kazama^{25

26}, M Kobayashi¹, G Koltman¹², A Kopec¹⁶, H Landsman¹², R F Lang¹⁶, L Levinson¹², Q Lin¹, S Lindemann¹⁷, M Lindner¹⁴, F Lombardi⁶, J A M Lopes^{6

27}, E López Fune²², C Macolino²⁸, J Mahlstedt², L Manenti⁹, A Manfredini¹⁰, F Marignetti¹⁵, T Marrodán Undagoitia¹⁴, K Martens²⁴, J Masbou¹⁹, D Masson¹⁷, S Mastroianni¹⁵, M Messina²¹, K Miuchi²⁹, A Molinario²¹, K Morå^{1

2}, S Moriyama²⁴, Y Mosbacher¹², M Murra⁵, J Naganoma²¹, K Ni³⁰, U Oberlack⁴, K Odgers¹¹, J Palacio^{14

19}, B Pelssers², R Peres¹⁰, J Pienaar²³, V Pizzella¹⁴, G Plante¹, J Qin¹⁶, H Qiu¹², D Ramírez García¹⁷, S Reichard¹⁰, A Rocchetti³⁰, N Rupp¹⁴, J M F Dos Santos⁶, G Sartorelli³, N Šarčević¹⁷, M Scheibelhut⁴, S Schindler⁴, J Schreiner¹⁴, D Schulte⁵, M Schumann¹⁷, L Scotto Lavina²², M Selvi³, F Semeria³, P Shagin³¹, E Shockley²³, M Silva⁶, H Simgen¹⁴, A Takeda²⁴, C Therreau¹⁹, D Thers¹⁹, F Toschi¹⁷, G Trinchero⁷, C Tunnell³¹, M Vargas⁵, G Volta¹⁰, O Wack¹⁴, H Wang³², Y Wei³⁰, C Weinheimer⁵, M Weiss¹², D Wenz⁴, J Westermann¹⁴, C Wittweg⁵, J Wulf¹⁰, Z Xu¹, M Yamashita^{24

25}, J Ye³⁰, G Zavattini^{3

33}, Y Zhang¹, T Zhu¹, J P Zopounidis²²

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 USA.
² Department of Physics, Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna and INFN-Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
⁴ Institut für Physik and Exzellenzcluster PRISMA, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
⁵ Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.
⁶ Department of Physics, LIBPhys, University of Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁷ Department of Physics, INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, University of Torino and INFN-Torino, 10125 Turin, Italy.
⁸ Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, Science Park, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Physik-Institut, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
¹¹ Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 USA.
¹² Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001 Israel.
¹³ Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY USA.
¹⁴ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
¹⁵ Department of Physics "Ettore Pancini", University of Napoli and INFN-Napoli, 80126 Naples, Italy.
¹⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA.
¹⁷ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
¹⁸ Institute for Subatomic Physics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
¹⁹ SUBATECH, IMT Atlantique, CNRS/IN2P3, Université de Nantes, 44307 Nantes, France.
²⁰ Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
²¹ INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
²² LPNHE, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, CNRS/IN2P3, Paris, France.
²³ Department of Physics, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.
²⁴ Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo, Higashi-Mozumi, Kamioka, Hida, Gifu 506-1205 Japan.
²⁵ Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, and Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602 Japan.
²⁶ Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8601 Japan.
²⁷ Coimbra Polytechnic - ISEC, Coimbra, Portugal.
²⁸ Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France.
²⁹ Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501 Japan.
³⁰ Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA.
³¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005 USA.
³² Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
³³ INFN, Sez. di Ferrara and Dip. di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, via G. Saragat 1, Edificio C, I-44122, Ferrara (FE), Italy.

PMID: 34720714
PMCID: PMC8550029
DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08777-z

$^{222}$ Rn emanation measurements for the XENON1T experiment

XENON Collaboration et al. Eur Phys J C Part Fields. 2021.

. 2021;81(4):337.

doi: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08777-z. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 USA.
² Department of Physics, Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna and INFN-Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
⁴ Institut für Physik and Exzellenzcluster PRISMA, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
⁵ Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.
⁶ Department of Physics, LIBPhys, University of Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁷ Department of Physics, INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, University of Torino and INFN-Torino, 10125 Turin, Italy.
⁸ Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, Science Park, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Physik-Institut, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
¹¹ Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 USA.
¹² Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001 Israel.
¹³ Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY USA.
¹⁴ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
¹⁵ Department of Physics "Ettore Pancini", University of Napoli and INFN-Napoli, 80126 Naples, Italy.
¹⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA.
¹⁷ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
¹⁸ Institute for Subatomic Physics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
¹⁹ SUBATECH, IMT Atlantique, CNRS/IN2P3, Université de Nantes, 44307 Nantes, France.
²⁰ Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
²¹ INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
²² LPNHE, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, CNRS/IN2P3, Paris, France.
²³ Department of Physics, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.
²⁴ Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo, Higashi-Mozumi, Kamioka, Hida, Gifu 506-1205 Japan.
²⁵ Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, and Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602 Japan.
²⁶ Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8601 Japan.
²⁷ Coimbra Polytechnic - ISEC, Coimbra, Portugal.
²⁸ Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France.
²⁹ Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501 Japan.
³⁰ Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA.
³¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005 USA.
³² Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
³³ INFN, Sez. di Ferrara and Dip. di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, via G. Saragat 1, Edificio C, I-44122, Ferrara (FE), Italy.

PMID: 34720714
PMCID: PMC8550029
DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08777-z

Abstract

The selection of low-radioactive construction materials is of utmost importance for the success of low-energy rare event search experiments. Besides radioactive contaminants in the bulk, the emanation of radioactive radon atoms from material surfaces attains increasing relevance in the effort to further reduce the background of such experiments. In this work, we present the $^{222}$ Rn emanation measurements performed for the XENON1T dark matter experiment. Together with the bulk impurity screening campaign, the results enabled us to select the radio-purest construction materials, targeting a $^{222}$ Rn activity concentration of $10 μ Bq / kg$ in $3.2 t$ of xenon. The knowledge of the distribution of the $^{222}$ Rn sources allowed us to selectively eliminate problematic components in the course of the experiment. The predictions from the emanation measurements were compared to data of the $^{222}$ Rn activity concentration in XENON1T. The final $^{222}$ Rn activity concentration of $(4.5 \pm 0.1) μ Bq / kg$ in the target of XENON1T is the lowest ever achieved in a xenon dark matter experiment.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Schematic setup of XENON1T (not to scale). The colors indicate different sub-components and are also used in Fig. 2, which shows their individual contributions to the overall $^{222}$ Rn rate

**Fig. 2**
The different sub-system contributions to the overall $^{222}$ Rn emanation rate in XENON1T. The colors correspond to those used in Fig. 1. The numbers in the brackets refer to the item numbers. QDrive pump C207 was not measured. Its $^{222}$ Rn emanation rate was estimated (see text)

**Fig. 3**
The activity concentration evolution of $^{222}$ Rn and $^{218}$ Po during XENON1T data-taking. In science run 0 and 1 (SR0 and SR1) the activity concentrations were stable over the entire time and we only show the initial period here. Xenon distillation campaigns to remove $^{222}$ Rn as well as the exchange of the recirculation pumps lead to a reduction of the $^{222}$ Rn and $^{218}$ Po activity concentration. They gray regions indicate periods of detector calibration or maintenance

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Planck Collaboration Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters (2018). arXiv:1807.06209
1. E. Aprile et al. (XENON Collaboration), The XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment. Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 881 (2017)
1. E. Aprile et al. (XENON10 Collaboration), Design and Performance of the XENON10 Dark Matter Experiment. Astropart. Phys. 34, 679–698 (2011)
1. E. Aprile et al. (XENON100 Collaboration), The XENON100 Dark Matter Experiment. Astropart. Phys. 35, 573–590 (2012)
1. Strigari LE. Galactic searches for dark matter. Phys. Rep. 2013;531:1. doi: 10.1016/j.physrep.2013.05.004. - DOI

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$^{222}$ Rn emanation measurements for the XENON1T experiment

Affiliations

$^{222}$ Rn emanation measurements for the XENON1T experiment

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Figures

References

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