Performance of a Large Area Avalanche Photodiode in a Liquid Xenon Ionization and Scintillation Chamber

K. Ni; E. Aprile; D. Day; K. L. Giboni; J. A. M. Lopes; P. Majewski; M. Yamashita

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2005.06.054

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Performance of a Large Area Avalanche Photodiode in a Liquid Xenon Ionization and Scintillation Chamber

K. Ni·E. Aprile·D. Day·K. L. Giboni·J. A. M. Lopes·P. Majewski·M. Yamashita

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Abstract

Scintillation light produced in liquid xenon (LXe) by alpha particles, electrons and gamma-rays was detected with a large area avalanche photodiode (LAAPD) immersed in the liquid. The alpha scintillation yield was measured as a function of applied electric field. We estimate the quantum efficiency of the LAAPD to be 45%. The best energy resolution from the light measurement at zero electric field is 7.5%(sigma) for 976 keV internal conversion electrons from Bi-207 and 2.6%(sigma) for 5.5 MeV alpha particles from Am-241. The detector used for these measurements was also operated as a gridded ionization chamber to measure the charge yield. We confirm that using a LAAPD in LXe does not introduce impurities which inhibit the drifting of free electrons.

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K. Ni, E. Aprile, D. Day, K. L. Giboni, J. A. M. Lopes, P. Majewski, M. Yamashita. 2005-02-14. Performance of a Large Area Avalanche Photodiode in a Liquid Xenon Ionization and Scintillation Chamber. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2005.06.054

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